Some Mistakes are Permanent
by pale-blue11
Summary: Danny and Phantom looked Maddie straight in the eye, anguish and pain evident on their faces. 'Mum,' they both whispered, and though spoken softly, the words were heard by everyone present. 'I'm so sorry.'... And he was gone. Before PP. I DON'T OWN DANNY PHANTOM
1. Chapter 1

Fenton Works was a large multi-storey building constructed of oddly matched orange bricks. The building itself was an average height compared to neighbouring houses, but it was the shiny metal UFO-like structure perched precariously on top that caused new people to stare. Citizens of Amity Park had grown used to the monstrosity, and barely regarded it as unusual anymore. They knew that Fenton Works was the property of Amity Park's resident ghost hunters, and so the strange behaviour was expected.

The ghost hunters- Maddie and Jack Fenton- had devoted most of their life to the capture and study of ghosts, but they weren't always successful in their endeavours. Their two children- Jazz and Danny- didn't have the same interest as their parents, though Danny had diligently listened to all of their ramblings since the Fenton Ghost Portal began to work.

Maddie and Jack's main focus, for the moment, was the ghost that haunted Amity Park. A few months back, the ghost boy known as Danny Phantom had attacked an authority figure. The people of Amity Park seemed to have forgotten this- worshipping the ghost as if he were a god- but Maddie and Jack just knew that there was something odd about Phantom. He knew something they didn't. In their eyes, Phantom was a villain, a cunning thief that kept stealing equipment from Fenton Works. Maddie had spotted the ghost boy holding a Fenton Thermos on more than one occasion. She had no idea how he got hold of them.

Her son, Danny, could have answered any of her questions, but he had come to realise that doing so would mean the end of his half-life. For Danny was the ghost boy that his parents were planning to dissect.

_Would they really rip me apart 'molecule by molecule' if they knew the truth_? Danny had wondered, several times.

The answer was impossible to obtain, because the only way to know for sure would be to ask the ghost hunters, and that posed too great a risk.

His difficult situation was the reason for why Danny was now being pursued through the town he had sworn to protect, flying for his half-life. His parents were below him, in the Fenton RV. That vehicle caused Danny more grief than Maddie and Jack could possibly imagine.

First, there was the social point. Whenever the embarrassing car drove past, it was usually followed by yet another of the ghost hunter's ridiculous antics- chasing the innocent Mr Lancer, for one, mistakenly thinking that he was a ghost.

The second occurred while Danny was in his other form- as Phantom. It seemed that almost every time the ghost boy had things under control, his parents would come and mess things up for him. Of course, most children think this about their parents- but, then again, most children's parents don't interrupt by shooting their child with ecto-guns. Danny was just lucky like that.

Obviously, Phantom wasn't thinking of this while he flew. His thoughts consisted mostly of swear words and plans to get away. It wasn't easy for a ghost to escape at night. The pale white glow surrounding his ghostly form prevented that. Phantom could have just gone invisible, but, less than an hour ago, Jack had presented Danny with his latest invention- the Fenton Revealer. It was installed in the Fenton RV and allowed the ghost hunters to see any ghost, visible or not.

Phantom mentally cursed this new contraption. He should have broken it when he had the chance.

An ecto-blast lit the sky, illuminating the town above which Phantom was flying. He swerved quickly out of the way, but he hadn't seen the building that was now rapidly approaching his face. Too late to go intangible- why hadn't he thought of that before?- Phantom made no sound as his body hit the brick wall with a sickening thump.

He fell two storeys to the ground below. The ghost hunters drove towards the site of the accident as fast as the Fenton RV would possible go. They stopped and got out of the vehicle, then ran towards the ghost boy.

His hair glowed silver in the moonlight, but the rest of his light had all but gone out. His dull green eyes rolled towards the people responsible. A large gash in his hairline dripped green ectoplasm down his face. It may have been the light, but the green had an odd red tinge to it.

As Maddie pointed the ecto-blaster at the ghost boy's head, he did something unexpected. He smiled warmly up at her.

Jack waddled up behind her, another ecto-blaster cradled in his arms. He, too, stopped when he saw Phantom's expression. It was kind and full of understanding. Neither ghost hunter could move as their target went intangible and sank below the surface of the pitch black road. They remained like that for several more minutes before going home, baffled and frustrated. Phantom had escaped them again.

**AN:**

**hey! I'm now doing two stories at once! I got bored and decided to start this one.**

**Thank you for reading, and please review my story- good or bad. Reviews will make me put more effort in.**

**I will try to upload this story every Friday :)**

**pale-blue14**

**(also, I'm changing my name to pale-blue11 sometime this week because 11 is a sky blue colour, while 14 is green. I don't know why I used 14 in the first place :) My friends think I'm crazy- but numbers DO have corresponding colours!)**


	2. Chapter 2

'Wow,' Sam remarked as Danny walked up the steps leading into Casper High- his prison for the day. 'You look rough. Anything interesting happen last night?'

Danny sighed in annoyance. 'My parents shot me with an ecto-blaster and I fell two storeys onto the road. Not much else.'

Sam smirked at him. 'You must be getting slow.'

The ghost boy glared at her, unimpressed. 'It's just so frustrating- why can't they see that I'm trying to help?'

Sam shrugged, she didn't know how Maddie or Jack Fenton's minds worked. Only they did.

The bell rang, its shrill trilling pierced the whole neighborhood. Danny rubbed a weary hand over his face.

'Wait a second!' Sam called as both she and Danny began walking to class. 'What happened to your head?'

Danny looked at his hand. The cut in his hairline had opened up again and blood was trickling out of it slowly. The blood was a deep red, made darker by the green quality of ectoplasm.

'I ran head-first into a wall,' the ghost boy admitted to his friend. 'I thought it would have healed by now.' He felt a sudden burst of anxiety flood over him. 'You don't think my parents noticed- do you?'

Now standing outside of the classroom that they needed for first lesson, Sam quickly pulled Danny inside before the late bell rang.

'I'm sure they didn't see anything,' she whispered now that they were around other students. 'By the way, have you seen Tucker?'

Danny shook his head and sat down at his desk. 'He's probably just sick.'

Sam nodded, not happy with her friend's answer. Tucker didn't get sick.

'We'll go see him after school,' she suggested. 'See if everything's alright.'

Danny agreed at the same time that the late bell rang. The lesson commenced soon after.

**DPDPDPDP**

Skulker lurked above Tucker's home. He had positioned himself on a nearby rooftop and gone invisible to ensure that the ghost boy would not sense anything. The greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone had been following both Phantom and Fenton for months, after the unique specimen first appeared on Skulker's radar, so he considered himself quite an expert when it came to the Whelp's behaviour. At first, the ghost had planned to add Phantom to his collection, but then his plans changed. When- not _if-_ Skulker claimed his greatest prize, Danny would spend the rest of his afterlife as a carpet or wall ornament in Skulker's lair. Ember would be so impressed!

Patience was an important skill for any great hunter- so the ghost hunter had to repeatedly remind himself- and that's why he had spent the whole day watching Casper High, keeping just out of the ghost boy's range so that neither Danny nor the Goth girl would notice him. And that's why he had followed Fenton to this neighbourhood, lurking on the rooftops.

So far, the day had been pointless- Skulker could see no way to get through the ghost boy's defense. He hoped that, soon, an opportunity would arise. Fenton and the Goth passed below the rooftop on which Skulker was perched. They would have been standing in his shadow had he not been invisible.

_Patience,_ Skulker reminded himself through grinding metal teeth. _He will soon adorn my lair._

A large metal van covered in odd contraptions turned the corner onto Tucker's street. Skulker attempted something that may have been a smile.

His opportunity had arrived.

**DPDPDPDP**

Tucker's house was in sight for Danny and Sam- they were so close. Too bad they hadn't been just a few minutes earlier, they could have been with their friend by now. The only warning they had was a wisp of blue mist that curled its way elegantly from Danny's mouth. Even that came too late.

The net enveloped Fenton entirely and glowed with a ghostly aura. Danny knew who it was even before his kidnapper spoke.

'Hello, Whelp,' Skulker greeted. 'Up for a little game?'

Danny's eye gleamed in cold delight as the rings of light transformed him into Phantom. He didn't even notice Sam running into Tucker's house. He had forgotten that she was there.

'Oh, I'm ready,' Phantom replied softly. 'Are you?'

Skulker threw his head back and laughed. 'I don't need to be! They are going to do all my work for me.' He pointed to somewhere behind the ghost boy. Danny struggled to see, but the net was tighter than it looked. He couldn't move.

The strands of ghostly thread, or rope, or something else entirely, cut into Danny as Skulker lifted him off of the ground.

'Ghost!' Someone familiar yelled from below.

Danny swore silently. Did Skulker really need to involve his _parents_?

**DPDPDPDP**

Phantom was trapped inside the net. He could have just phased out, but honestly, the thought never occurred to him. His discomfort grew as Skulker lifted the net, the squares cutting into his face and arms.

Danny's ghost hearing picked up on his mother's soft gasp from below him. 'It's the ghost boy.'

There was a quiet thump as Phantom was dropped onto the roof of Tucker's house. Skulker laughed without humour. 'Goodbye, Whelp, I'll come back for you later.'

And, with that, he flew away. As he left, the net dissolved and Danny was free.

'Hey!' Yelled the ghost boy. 'Come back!'

He bent his knees and took off after the retreating hunter, only to be stopped by a powerful blow to his back. The ecto-gun was still smoking when Phantom fell painfully onto the roof. He rolled over and looked at who had shot him.

Danny swore. _I forgot about them. How did they get up here so quick?_

Amity Park's resident ghost hunters stood on either side of their son, pointing ecto-guns at his head.

Phantom didn't know where to look. On his left stood Maddie, and on his right stood Jack. Both looked determined to finish what they'd started the previous night.

Everything was happening so fast, Danny didn't even have time to think before another green blast hit his left leg. He screamed- in both shock and pain- and felt his conscious slipping away from him.

Maddie and Jack saw their chance at the same time as the ghost boy collapsed onto his injured leg. Danny heard the whine of the ecto-guns and saw the green light speeding towards him. He threw his arms up above his head and instinctively conjured a ghost shield. It looked as if he was crouched in a dome of glowing lime jelly.

Maddie's shot hit the top of the shield and ricocheted off into the sky. Jack was more on target, unfortunately. His blast hit the dome square-on, causing the ecto-blast to bounce back towards him. The ray didn't hurt Jack- it just dazed him. In his confusion, the bulky orange ghost hunter stumbled back two steps...

Then a third- but there wasn't any roof left.

'Mads!' He cried out desperately, trying to keep his balance on the edge. Maddie raced towards him, but it was too late. Her black gloves almost skimmed his shoulder, but then Jack was gone. He didn't even scream, there wasn't enough time.

'Jack!' Maddie shrieked. There were a few muffled yells from inside the house, and then Tucker and Sam ran out to see what had flown past the kitchen window.

Danny was frozen. He felt empty inside, as if he could just float away, but something rooted him to the spot. He had killed his father. And nothing could ever bring him back.

Phantom watched as his mother turned to face him. There was nothing in her expression- it was completely blank. Danny could feel a single tear roll down his cheek. He didn't bother to wipe it away, he just went invisible and flew off. Phantom didn't want anyone to see him after what he did, and he didn't want to see anyone either.

He couldn't stand seeing their judgmental expressions, hearing their hushed whispers, and he couldn't bear the guilt and anguish that crushed him both physically and emotionally.

_Some mistakes are permanent._

**AN:**

**Hey!**

**OK, some of you may have noticed that the story title has changed. I wrote the wrong word because I was very tired and my parents were bugging me. Now my sister is. Sorry if the title thing caused any confusion.**

**Also- I have already written the next ten or so chapters, so if this story can reach 11 reviews by this time next week, I will upload two chapters. The end of chapter 4 is where it gets interesting!**

**Anyway, I have to go. Please review, favourite or follow :) and have a good week**

**pale-blue11**


	3. Chapter 3

Danny didn't know how long he spent flying aimlessly over Amity Park. Long enough for the Sun to set and the stars to glare accusingly at the sorrowful ghost. Long enough for his tears to dry and his stomach cry out in hunger. Was he really hungry, though? Or was the continuous gnawing inside of him a product of his guilt and longing for his father?

Danny decided that it was the latter.

When finally the pain grew so bad that Phantom had no choice but to go home, he did so with a heavy heart. He didn't feel worthy of entering the place in which Jack had previously lived.

Instead of going through his bedroom window, as he usually did, Danny alighted on the front porch, as Fenton. Hesitating slightly, he opened the door. Silence hit him as soon as he crossed the threshold. Jazz and Maddie were sitting on the couch, Danny's sister's orange hair cascading over her mother's shoulder. Both were pale and their red, tear-stained eyes stared blankly at Danny. It scared him more than he thought possible- more than the image of Jack toppling of the rooftop only hours before.

He swallowed hard. 'Mum-' he began. _I'm Danny Phantom_. But those last three words just wouldn't come. He couldn't admit that to her. He couldn't admit that he was the ghost that had ruined their family. He just couldn't.

Maddie finally seemed to register her son's presence.

'Danny,' she sighed, her eyes roaming all over the room nervously. She looked exhausted. 'I'm afraid that... your father...' She sobbed once, a painful sound that originated from the deepest part of her soul.

Danny steeled himself. He knew what was coming. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes and he blinked them away in surprise. He hadn't thought that he had any tears left.

Wiping a gloved hand over her face, Maddie continued. '...Is in a coma. H-he fell off a r-roof.'

Danny stared at her. Jack was alive? A smile almost crept its way onto his face, but the ghost boy managed to banish it. That would just scare Jazz and Maddie.

'H-how?' He stuttered incredulously.

Jazz looked up at him from her slouched position on her mother's shoulder.

'Danny Phantom.' She told him bitterly. It was as much of an accusation that could be given with Maddie in the room. Danny had no doubt that if the ghost hunter knew who Phantom really was, he would now be a full-ghost. She was in an unstable mood, and was all the more dangerous for it.

He cleared his throat nervously. 'When can we see him?'

Maddie looked at the clock and sighed. 'It's too late now. We were waiting for you to go visit him again.'

She was so distraught that she didn't even bother to ask Danny where he'd been all afternoon.

Jazz stood up stiffly, as if she hadn't moved for a long time. 'I'm going to bed,' she announced sadly, all anger gone from her voice. 'What time are we going to the hospital tomorrow?'

Maddie looked like she hadn't even considered what was going to happen the next day. 'Well, the visiting hours are after 10 o'clock,' she mused. 'So I guess you can skip school just this once.'

The relief that Danny had felt at hearing that his father wasn't dead- just in a coma- had all but disappeared, overshadowed by the guilt again. The opportunity to have a day off of school didn't even begin to lift Danny's spirit, as it would have done only a few hours ago.

He walked up the stairs like a medieval criminal going to be hanged. His head drooped and his feet dragged along the ground. The short journey to his bedroom seemed to take forever, but he finally arrived and collapsed onto the bed, fully clothed.

On a whim, Danny summoned the luminescent halos. They travelled along his body, leaving Phantom in his place. A lock of silvery white hair lay over his right eye, which was steadily filling with more tears. Blurred and disfigured, his hair looked like a pale white cloud floating above his head. The halos appeared again, and the cloud turned black. Danny thought that it was a very accurate representation of his conscience. Black as sin.

This was the last thought that his tired mind could produce before he fell into a sleep as dark as the cloud hovering over his face.

**DPDPDPDP**

Maddie watched her children walk up the stairs. She had an insane urge to call them back, make them keep her company. But that would be selfish, and she knew it. Looking around the living room, Maddie searched for something to do. Her eyes fell on a piece of ghost hunting equipment, probably left there in the corner by Jack. Sighing, she stood up and walked over to the forgotten device. But she couldn't bring herself to move it- not until her husband came back, at least. It was a reminder of Jack, and she couldn't get rid of it.

Instead, Maddie followed her children up the stairs. She stopped first at Jazz's room. Her daughter was already asleep, lying under the covers and shivering slightly under the influence of whatever nightmare she was having. An image of Jack, falling off of Danny's friend's house, came uninvited to her mind's eye. She shook her head quickly to clear it. Maddie would be having nightmares tonight, also.

On the other side of the hallway, her gaze fell onto the door to her son's bedroom. It was closed, but a light still shone from beneath it.

Maddie slowly opened the door, fearful of disturbing Danny's sleep. She turned off the overhead light that he had neglected and turned to leave. She hesitated when she saw her son's face. He looked so calm and peaceful, so different to his usual expression. Maddie sat down on the edge of his bed and stared. She exhaled slowly, committing this moment to memory. Not Jack being in hospital- she didn't want to ever remember that- she wanted to remember Danny, as he was. He looked so unguarded.

_Oh, Danny,_ she thought. _We never talk anymore._

He didn't move. Maddie reached out a hand and smoothed his hair away from his eyes. In this moment, she almost forgot about the afternoon's events. She kept gently patting Danny's hair, until she felt something strange.

Maddie tenderly examined the cut in her son's hairline. It was almost gone, so it must have happened a while ago. She wondered how he got it.

_In fact_, she frowned. _It looks like..._

_No._

She pushed off of the bed and out into the hallway, closing the door silently behind her.

_A human can't become a ghost without dying..._

Maddie, usually so practical, dismissed the injury as coincidental.

_And my son is not dead._

Besides, the cut that Phantom had received the previous night had been quite deep- there was no way it could have healed in less than twenty-four hours... Right?

_Danny is NOT Phantom. _

_No._

**AN:**

**Hello! pale-blue11 here!**

**So, I didn't reach 11 reviews :'( but I was so happy when I got home from school one day and found four new reviews! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourite and/or followed ****_Some Mistakes are Permanent,_**** you're the best! **

**I might propose the extra chapter thing in a few weeks, but not now.**

**Anyway, I have to go. Our school was meant to give everyone laptops today (which would have made uploading this easier) but now they won't be ready for another week. We'll probably get them sometime in June. Us students are ****_not _****happy, but the IT people are doing their best :)**

**Please review, favourite and/or follow. Please.**

**pale-blue11**


	4. Chapter 4

The heavy, oppressive blanket that smothered Fenton Works still hadn't disappeared when morning dissolved the nightmares of the previous night- not that anyone expected it to. It appeared as an almost tangible substance to the citizens of Amity Park. So, those that could afford to do so, avoided the place like the plague.

Danny didn't know what woke him. It could have been his stomach- demanding food- or it could have been a passing nightmare. He could hear Maddie downstairs in the kitchen.

Danny rolled over to check the time. Half past nine. His friends were already in school. Sighing, he realised that he should probably get prepared for the day, as well. He could start by having breakfast.

Danny wasn't surprised to see that he was still clad in the clothes that he had been wearing the day before. That was good- it meant that he didn't need to get changed.

His footfalls on the staircase reminded Danny of the sound of Jack landing on the grass that bordered Tucker's home. He stopped halfway down, too dizzy from his memories to continue.

'Jazz, dear,' Maddie called forlornly. 'Is that you?'

Danny shook his head to clear it. 'No,' he replied. His mouth was dry and he had trouble speaking. 'It's just me.'

Danny could hear the hesitation in her next words. 'Oh... that's good. Could you please fetch your sister for me? I would like to leave soon.'

Without replying, Danny trudged back up the stairs. He and Jazz hadn't had the chance to really talk about the previous afternoon, and Danny was dreading it already. He could picture the look she would give him- guarded and full of anguish; as if she didn't know him properly. It hollowed out his insides just to think about it.

But he couldn't put it off any longer. Danny knocked politely on his sister's door. He waited for an answer, but when one never came, he let himself in.

Jazz was seated on her desk chair next to the window. It provided a view of the neighbouring house. She stared at the bricks intently, not acknowledging the new presence in her room.

'Uh, Jazz?' Danny asked tentatively. 'Are you coming down? Mum wants to go to the hospital soon... Jazz?' He took another step into the room, anxiety apparent in his tone. 'Are you OK?'

'No,' Jazz answered quietly, almost as a whisper. 'What do you think?'

Danny opened his mouth to say something, but then appeared to think better of it.

Jazz waited a moment, then spun around to face her brother and continued in a stronger voice, each word getting louder and more bitter. 'Our Dad's in a coma and you put him there. My _brother_ almost committed _patricide_.'

Danny nearly lost track of his thoughts when he saw the look in her eye. It was just how he had predicted it to be. Finally, he pushed out the words he had been thinking. 'It was an accident! He tried to shoot me, but I put up a ghost shield. It was just bad luck.'

Jazz stood up quickly, the chair that she had recently vacated flew against the wall before landing, with a thump, on the floor. Danny winced. He was beginning to hate that sound. His sister's face was livid with rage, her lower lip quivering. 'It _was_ your fault, _Phantom_,' she told him venomously. 'Leave me alone.'

Danny stumbled backwards as Jazz stormed past him. Her words had hit him hard. She had verbalized the very thing that Danny didn't know he had been thinking, but recognized as the truth.

Did the truth always have to hurt?

**DPDPDPDP**

Maddie kept a firm eye in her son while he ate breakfast. He had been acting strange- twitchy and nervous- though his abnormal behaviour could be put down to recent events. To be honest, Maddie didn't know why she was watching Danny so strictly. It was impossible that he was Phantom; a completely ridiculous notion. She already reached that conclusion the night before. Still, the uneasy feeling wouldn't go.

Maddie couldn't eat. Her insides were too churned up to even think about food. Danny was shoving cereal into his mouth as if he were afraid that someone might steal the bowl from him.

Acting on a whim, the ghost hunter sat down beside her son. She reached out her gloved hand to smooth back his hair, much like she had done the night before. She noticed the strange looks that Danny was throwing at her, but Maddie was too involved in what she was doing. Danny tried to pull himself out of her grasp, but she wouldn't let him go. Though she searched his face again and again, Maddie couldn't find the scratch that she had discovered the previous night. It was gone; healed completely without even a scar.

Danny finally succeeded in freeing himself.

'What is your _problem_?' He angrily demanded of his mother, before racing upstairs to his room.

Maddie could feel Jazz staring at her in confusion and disbelief. Both of them were trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Neither would ever truly understand.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**Sorry. I know this is a bit of a short chapter, but the next one is really interesting- I promise!**

**I have a dilemma- my sister has a piano lesson, but I can't decide whether to watch an episode of Danny Phantom, or draw him for a new story cover… yep. This is my Friday night :( is it sad that I'm really excited? Starting episode now… :D**

**We just got new laptops at school today- ones that we can bring home- but I don't know if I should use it for going on , they can see what we do on the laptops. They're watching us… XO**

**Anyway, this should help with my writing- they can't monitor what we type, only internet sites :( so, I ****_might_**** be able to write more different stories. I just posted my first one-shot, it's called ****_Nothing, Never, Nothing, Forever. _****Please tell me how I did :)**

**Anyway, please review, favourite and/or follow. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my story :) thank you so much to all the people who have already reviewed :)**

**Have a great week!**

**pale-blue11**


	5. Chapter 5

The hospital was almost completely white and stank of medicine. It was nothing like the hospital that Danny and most of Casper High were admitted to a few months earlier. This one was clean and so brightly lit that it hurt the ghost boy's eyes. It was quiet, only the occasional cough or beeping machine to break the silence.

Maddie softly conversed with the receptionist, got directions to Jack's room, and then led Danny and Jazz up to it. His room was on the fourth floor and the elevator went slowly, it seemed oblivious to the rising tension within- or, perhaps, the machine wanted to prolong the torture. Danny mentally rolled his eyes. It was a _machine_- it wasn't alive or anything.

Finally, the elevator jerked to a stop and the doors opened. Danny breathed a sigh of relief and escaped, wandering partway down a corridor before realizing that he didn't know where he was going. Closed, sterile white doors were placed at set intervals on both sides of the hallway. Nurses passed rapidly, too busy to stop for anything. Danny looked back to his mother and sister sheepishly. He was lost.

Maddie and Jazz turned and walked away from him. Danny jogged after them, but stopped when a nurse gave him a withering glare. He slowed to a rapid walk and continued to his father's room.

No one had prepared Danny for what he would see. Jack lay on a stark white bed, his bulk surrounded by several complicated machines. Tubes surrounded his body, which Danny could see was not in his orange jumpsuit, but a plain hospital gown. Jack's face was a blue and purple mess. Bandages were wound everywhere, and in some places, blood stained the white material.

'Family only, please,' a nurse's voice drifted in from the corridor.

Her request was argued by a reporter, but Danny could no longer understand the words being spoken. A woman pushed her way into the room, followed by the protesting nurse.

'Maddie Fenton?' The reporter clarified. 'Could I please talk to you?'

Maddie glanced at her husband.

The reporter noticed her hesitation. 'It won't take long.'

Nodding, the ghost hunter retreated to the corridor. Without meaning to, Danny listened to their conversation. The reporter appeared to be interviewing Maddie about Jack.

'I'm Cary Naed, and I was hoping that you would be able to shed some light on this tragedy,' she began. Danny could imagine the fake look of sympathy that would be plastered on Cary's face. 'I have a few questions.'

Maddie answered quietly, defeatedly. 'Fire away.'

Danny heard the shuffling of papers. 'Alright, then... What can you tell me about your husband's condition?'

'He's in a coma.'

Cary sounded exasperated. 'OK, how was he put in the coma? Some people suspect the ghost boy, Danny Phantom.'

'Then they would be right,' Maddie responded bitterly.

'But... but how was he put in the coma?'

'Listen,' the ghost hunter snapped. 'It was Danny's fault. That's all I want to say right now.' Her voice got closer to the door. 'Now, if you would excuse me, I would like to visit my husband.'

Maddie stormed into the room and collapsed onto the visitor chair next to Jazz. Her tough facade last for a second or two, then dissolved into a flood of tears. She put her head in her hands and rocked slowly.

Danny felt sick. It was all his fault- he knew that, Jazz knew that- but it was somehow different coming from his mother.

No one noticed as he slipped silently out of the room. His throat burned, but his eyes remained dry. A few wrong turns later, Danny found the elevator. It was mercifully empty. He didn't want to have to explain himself to anyone. He didn't know what he might do. Obviously, he was a danger to other people.

The elevator doors closed behind him and he began his descent. Danny lay his head against the cool surface of the elevator wall, trying to clear his thoughts. A familiar voice interrupted the calming music that was playing softly in the background.

'Danny-boy, I have a few questions,' Jack said. The ghost boy spun around at an unnatural speed. His father stood- or rather, floated- behind him. The orange jumpsuit was glowing with a purple hue, as was the rest of Jack's body. His skin was a pale lilac and his expression painfully bewildered.

'Dad,' the ghost boy croaked, his voice cracking with emotion. 'Dad.'

'Danny-boy? What's happening? Where am I?' Jack leaned forward, getting uncomfortably close Danny. His breath was freezing. 'Why did you kill me, son?'

'No... Dad!' Danny cried, his voice cracking with emotion. 'It wasn't like that! Please believe me!'

Jack drew back, his expression hurt and cynical.

'Please!' Danny sobbed. The elevator door chimed, then opened. Jack disappeared.

Shocked faces peered in at the dark-haired teenage boy lying on the floor. The elevator doors attempted to close, but a nurse wedged his foot in the gap before they could. He knelt next to Danny, speaking to him soothingly. Then, the nurse tried to touch Danny's shoulder.

The teenager flinched in terror and stared into the nurses eyes for less than a second. He made a strange noise deep within his throat, and then went invisible. The nurse stumbled back, looking around desperately for an explanation. There wasn't one.

The teenager had literally disappeared before his eyes.

**(AN: I almost uploaded it here, but decided to add the next chapter:) enjoy!)**

Danny flew through the hospital walls and out into the open air. He knew that he had acted irrationally to the nurse that had tried to help him, and that his actions could have long-term consequences, but he honestly couldn't care less at the time. His mind flew even faster than his body, and the result confused him. Landing in an empty street to compose himself, Danny realised that he was still in his human form. What if the nurse had recognized him and figured out his secret?

That would have to be a problem for later on. Right now, Danny had something important to do. The idea had been echoing around his mind ever since he woke that morning- sometimes quiet and other times so loud that it drowned out all other thoughts. If all he caused to his family and friends was hurt, then what was the point of him being there? Oh, he was sure that if he tried to talk to them, they would deny everything, but Danny had seen the looks in their eyes. Accusation. And, just this morning, Jazz had put those thoughts into words. Then later, Maddie had copied her daughter's actions. They were speaking up for everyone that had been tainted by Danny's influence.

_It was your fault, Phantom._

_It was Danny's fault._

'No,' Danny mumbled to himself, falling to the ground and balling his hands into fists. _'No_.'

He and Phantom were the same, and they were both threats to all of Amity Park. If Danny hadn't activated the Fenton Ghost Portal, fewer ghosts would be able to visit his home town. The only way ghosts would be able to get through to the human realm would be natural portals. Danny had provided them with easy access to Amity Park.

And the region still worshipped him as a hero.

_Not anymore_, Danny realised bitterly. He had come to a decision.

Amity Park would be a much safer place without him.

**DPDPDPDP**

'I forgot to ask you,' Sam said as she and Tucker walked outside for lunch. 'Where were you yesterday?'

The Techno-geek squirmed uncomfortably. 'I kind of ate a carrot,' he blushed, a bright crimson. 'It was an accident. I was really sick yesterday morning, but the feeling faded and I took the rest of the day off because I could.'

Sam nodded and sat down at a vacant bench. 'A carrot?'

'Well, half a carrot,' Tucker corrected, embarrassed. 'Honestly.'

The Goth choked back a laugh. It would have been funny in any other circumstances, but with Danny absent, and her knowing the cause of his not being there, Sam felt an irrational pang of guilt whenever she was happy or enjoying herself. She didn't understand how she could be having a good time with one of her best friend's parents in hospital.

_The nightmares are almost payment enough, _Sam thought. But that didn't make the guilt disappear. It only made her feel worse for having thought it.

Sam mentally shook herself, resolving to have her lunch before the bell rang again for class. She wondered when Danny would be coming back. Soon, she hoped.

Unwrapping the packed lunch that her mother had given her, Sam noticed a pale blue note lying beside her tofu roll. It was probably some sickeningly sweet _'Have a good day, sweetie_!' message that her parents had planted there. It wouldn't be the first time. She tried to slip the note out of sight as discreetly as possible. It didn't matter- Tucker saw it anyway.

He snatched it out of her grasp. 'What's this?' He exclaimed in mock amazement. 'Another note?'

Sam might have once fought for the scrap of paper back, but she knew that to do so would be futile- Tucker would manage to read it no matter what she did.

The Goth watched her best friend unfold the small piece of blue paper. His brow furrowed in confusion and he began to frown. He silently passed the note to her.

Sam read it. _''Goodbye'_? What does that mean?'

Tucker looked extremely worried and quite pale. 'It's Danny's handwriting. I... I think he's leaving.'

**AN: **

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**I remember writing this chapter:) it was raining.**

**Sooooo… I really have nothing to say… You were lucky this time! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourite or followed! You made my week:)**

**Please review, favourite and/or follow. If I can get… 20 reviews by next Friday, I'll upload two chapters! Want to know what happens to Danny? Review!**

**And have a nice week!**

**pale-blue11**


	6. Chapter 6

Danny took one last glance at the only two real friends that he had ever had. He had so many words he wanted to say to them, but none would come to mind when he wrote the note. They poured into his head now, making it hurt physically as well as emotionally. Danny thought about floating down from his unseen vantage point above them, saying the words that caused him such pain. But he knew that if he stayed too much longer, he wouldn't be able to go.

Danny felt like he had used up a lifetime's supply of tears already, but still more pricked his eyes and scorched his throat. He flew away.

Slowly, at first, but suddenly building up speed until he couldn't even see where he was going. The land below him was a blur of rapidly changing colours, made harder to distinguish as shapes or patterns by his painfully watering eyes. He needed some flight goggles or something before he flew like this again.

He had never travelled this fast before, and the speed terrified and exhilarated him. It certainly pushed all other thoughts out of his head. The only reminder of the past twenty-four hours was the guilt that sat in the pit of his stomach, causing that area to feel numb. Danny put on more speed and realised that by doing so, the guilt was also left behind.

Time lost all meaning. Phantom felt as if he had only been flying for a few minutes- but it could have been days, he had vaguely noticed the world go dark at least twice, if not more. It didn't matter. Danny knew that if he flew fast enough, nothing would be able to touch him. Nothing physical, emotional, or even psychological. He was safe from his memories.

And this is how Danny continued to stay. The Sun rose, the Sun set, and then the process repeated itself again, and again. Phantom didn't notice. Nothing could reach him at that speed- not even time.

Danny felt a blissful smile creep over his face. This was true heaven.

**DPDPDPDP**

A small black shape wove its was drunkenly across the blue sky. A rusty white car skidded to a stop on the dusty road below, its driver jumping out quickly. The slender, middle-aged woman ran to the back seat, her pale blond hair tied back in a long plait that she threw impatiently over her shoulder. From the backseat, she pulled out a hunting rifle. She didn't know what was flying overhead- but it was unnatural and needed to be taken down.

The woman, whose name was Dawn, lined up the rifle and took careful aim. Her target was going fast, but she was a good shot. It didn't stand a chance.

**DPDPDPDP**

Up above, Danny was startled by a loud noise. He looked down below him. With his ghost-enhanced vision, he could see a woman pointing a gun at him. The bullet hit him like one of Plasmius' punches. It knocked the air out of him and Danny struggled to remain conscious. He looked at the injury. Ectoplasm mixed with blood pumped out of a hole in his left shoulder.

_I've never been shot with a normal gun before,_ Danny thought distantly. His head felt light, and then he fell.

The ground hurt almost as much as the gunshot. He landing on his back, and if there was still any air in his lungs, he would have lost it again. The world darkened, and Danny thought he was blacking out. He groaned and then opened his eyes painfully. Dimly, he realised that his shoulder no longer hurt.

Standing above him was a woman. She had a gun pointed at his head. Seeing that, Danny struggled to get up. He had to get away from the gun. That was the last thing Danny remembered before a loud explosion forced him to succumb to the darkness that was rapidly filling his exhausted mind. Time had caught up to him again.

**DPDPDPDP**

Dawn stood over the boy. He was clothed in a black jumpsuit and looked very familiar. His white hair was blown back off of his face and, with his eyes closed, he looked fairly normal. Not that normal teenagers could fly.

The boy let out a soft groan. Dawn squeaked in surprise. She had watched him fall from the sky and smash into the earth so hard that there was a slight depression in the dust. There was a hole in his jumpsuit at the shoulder, and Dawn knew that the tear was caused by her bullet. But, somehow, the boy had survived.

He blinked up at her. Terrified and confused, Dawn aimed her gun at his head. He looked at her like a deer might look at a rapidly approaching car, then, with unnatural speed, he sprang to his feet. In that moment, she realised who he was.

Acting on instinct, Dawn pulled the trigger. The bullet missed, but the boy collapsed anyway.

Dawn screamed and clamped her hands over her mouth-

_I could've killed him_

-then backed away. She sprinted to her car and found her phone. Dialing with shaky hands, Dawn hoped that they would pick up soon.

'Hello?' Came a man's voice from the other end of the line.

Dawn breathed a sigh of relief, raking a trembling hand through her hair. 'Scott? Oh, thank God. I need your help.'

Scott didn't sound very worried. 'Oh, yeah? What's the problem?'

'I-I was driving, then I stopped and...' She looked down at the reason for her call. 'And I shot Danny Phantom.'

A pause. 'What?'

'I shot Danny Phantom.'

There was no answer for a long time. Dawn was about to ask if he was still there, when Scott's voice came through the line.

'Where are you?' He asked flatly. 'I'll be there as soon as possible.'

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**I know that in the past few chapters some characters- especially Jazz- have been OOC, but that's only because of what happened to Jack. Expect some serious OOCness from Jazz in the next few chapters. Sam and Tucker seem so uncaring because neither of them want to upset Danny, and Sam isn't the type of person in my head who would tell anyone how she really feels. I forgot to write that in the ANs for those chapters :/**

**Oh, and something important. If someone with red hair asks you politely to stop using the word 'ranga', STOP USING IT. It hurts our feelings, and eventually whoever said it. Just ask the guy whose hand I punched after he wouldn't stop calling me that -_-**

**I hope that I got this up in time, Mango Bat.**

**19 reviews! So close! I'm sorry, but I can't upload two chapters :( Thank you to everyone who ****_did_**** review- you're the best!**

**Please review, favourite and/or follow! Please?**

**Have a nice week!**

**pale-blue11**


	7. Chapter 7

Danny kept perfectly still. He was laying on something hard and cold, maybe a table. Words filtered in from another room, too soft for human ears to distinguish. But Danny wasn't entirely human.

One of the voices was obviously female, and the other male. The woman must have been the person who shot him. Danny felt his breathing increase with this realisation, getting louder and faster along with his heartbeat. Blood and ectoplasm rushed through his ears, drowning out the noises from the other room.

_Focus_, Danny reprimanded himself. _You need to calm down._

He concentrated on his breathing. In... out. Slowly, it went back to normal. His heart also stopped its pounding. The voices became clearer.

'I can't believe you shot him,' A man said incredulously.

A woman answered him wearily. 'I told you, Scott, I didn't mean to. It was just luck.'

Danny frowned, but otherwise didn't move. _Luck_?

Scott chuckled. 'Then I wish I was as lucky as you- you caught the ghost boy! Can you tell me how you did it, again?'

Danny heard the woman sigh. 'No, Scott.' There was quite a long pause after this. 'What's going to happen to him?' She asked quietly.

'Well, we've been told to bring him back to Amity Park. Maddie Fenton wants to speak to him.'

'What about?'

'Her son, I guess.'

There, the conversation faltered for a few moments.

The woman broke the silence. 'I don't watch the news too often- how long has her son been missing?'

Scott whistled under his breath. 'Ooh, I don't know, Dawn... Ten- maybe fourteen days? Too long, anyway.'

Danny was amazed. He had been flying around for about two weeks. He knew that time had passed, but he had thought it to be only a few days. What did his friends and family think of his disappearance? He had to get back to Amity Park.

Danny began to sit up from the table that he had been lying on, but stopped and fell back quietly when he heard mention of Jack.

'The whole town's hoping to find him soon- his father's in a coma.' Scott said.

Dawn made a noise of agreement. 'Yeah, I heard of that. Wait- didn't Danny Phantom cause it?'

'Yep,' he said bitterly. 'And they think that he might know where the Fenton boy is. They both disappeared at the same time.'

Danny heard a chair scrape across the floor. 'Why don't we go ask him?' Dawn exclaimed. 'He must be awake by now.'

The ghost boy panicked. He couldn't talk to them- he wasn't a very good liar. Sitting up so quickly that his head spun, Danny heard Dawn's footsteps approach the door. He looked around the room for something to hide behind. There was the table he was currently sitting on, with no tablecloth. It was pushed up against the far wall. On the opposite side of the room, next to the door, was a large antique cabinet with a spotted mirror above it. The cabinet looked big enough for him, but the footsteps were already at the door.

_Oh_, thought Danny's tired mind. _Invisibility. Why didn't I think of that first_?

The familiar tingling that accompanied this particular power came, but there was something wrong. The tingle built to an itch, which instantly turned into an excruciating burn. Danny started to scream at the same time as the door opened.

**DPDPDPDP**

Dawn was unable to produce any sort of sound. She had opened the door to a very unexpected sight. Phantom writhed on the polished wooden floor, a complicated device on his chest sparking with green lightning bolts. His wails sounded strange- a peculiar mix between ghost and human, as if there were two beings trapped inside him.

Dawn turned to the police officer beside her. 'Scott!' She yelled. 'What's happening? Is there something wrong? We have to help him!'

Scott looked at her placidly. 'There's nothing wrong,' he assured her in a calm manner. 'This is what happens if he tries to use his ghost powers. Maddie Fenton gave them to us. She knew that if we found Phantom, he'd been near impossible to contain.'

Danny's screams were dying, losing their energy. Danny also looked as if he were dying. His ghostly glow was fading.

_But... That's impossible_! Dawn thought. _He's a ghost- ghosts can't die!_

Weakly, she asked Scott a question. 'What's it doing to him?'

He was trying to maintain a professional air, but Dawn could see her friend's composure beginning to break. 'I-I don't know, exactly. She said it wouldn't hurt him.'

Danny stopped screaming and began to whimper, instead. The sound made Dawn want to rip the torture device from him, but she restrained herself. If this ghost was able to put a ghost hunter in hospital, she could only imagine what he could do to her.

_He looks so young, though_, Dawn thought guiltily. _How could anyone _do_ something like this?_

A small voice spoke up in the back of her head. It was her fault that he was here right now- she was the one who shot him. Dawn quickly ignored the voice.

A police van pulled up outside, visible through the window. It was obviously from Amity Park- Dawn doubted that any other town would have as much ghost equipment as this police vehicle displayed.

They didn't even need any of the equipment, Dawn knew. The device on Phantom's chest would keep him immobilized for as long as it was there.

Two people got out of the van, both women. The passenger stepped out first and boldly rang the doorbell. She was tall, about the same build as Dawn, and had short brown hair. She wore a police uniform, unlike the other woman. Average height, rusty brown hair, and dressed in a blue jumpsuit- Dawn guessed her to be Maddie Fenton. She certainly looked like someone who could provide that level of pain to another being. It was just the message in her eye, like a silent warning.

The doorbell rang a second time. Scott and Dawn looked at each other nervously, though neither knew what they were worried about. Scott went to answer the door.

Maddie barged through as soon as it opened. 'Where is he?' She demanded impatiently. Dawn silently gestured to the room, a bit lost for words.

The ghost hunter stalked towards the ghost and looked at Phantom as if he were a piece of gum that had stuck itself to the bottom of her favourite shoes. He whimpered quietly, curled up in a tight ball. The device sparked weakly.

'You,' Maddie said, her tone as hard and sharp as glass. She pointed at Scott. 'Help me get him to the van.'

No niceties were exchanged during the whole visit. Phantom was thrown roughly into the back of the van, and then the visitors were gone, leaving Dawn and Scott feeling flustered and confused. That was terrifyingly efficient. And Maddie Fenton was just terrifying.

Dawn wondered if the ghost hunter had always been like that. If so, she didn't blame the Fenton boy for trying to escape.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**Our school had the Athletics carnival today. It was fun, but my knee hurts :( I had hurdles first event and I started to cough just before the first jump -_- From there I managed to trip over ****_every _****hurdle there -_- It was funny, though!**

**Ummm… Oh, wow. I've done more chapters than I thought :/ I was going to say that my favourite chapter of this story (so far) was next week, but it's still a few weeks away. Next week is my eleventh week on FanFiction and 11 is my lucky number, so I'll do something to acknowledge that. Not sure what, at the moment.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows, guys! They mean a lot :)**

**So… please review, favourite and/or follow! I don't know what else to say…**

**Oh! Don't worry- this won't be an OC fanfic! Dawn and Scott are just there because I couldn't think of what else to do! They ****_might_**** be coming back, but that's a very big ****_might._**** Like, majorly big…**

**I really can't see them in the story again, honestly.**

**Anyway, yeah.**

**Have a nice week!**

**pale-blue11**


	8. Chapter 8

Sam lay on her bed, staring gloomily up at the ceiling. Tucker sat against the wall next to her door. Neither had moved or made any kind of sound for at least ten minutes. The whole of Amity Park seemed to be afraid to break the silence as they waited anxiously for news of either Danny or Phantom. Maddie Fenton had driven off early the previous morning, telling no one where she was going.

Sam huffed and rolled to face Tucker. 'Where do you think Mrs Fenton is?' She asked. 'She's been gone for a while.'

Tucker sighed and picked at the carpet for a few seconds before answering. 'Maybe she found Danny.'

But his voice held no conviction. If Danny was still alive- well, half-alive- he would have contacted his two best friends ages ago.

Sam snorted. 'Yeah, right. How long has it been?' She knew exactly how long, but sometimes had to be told. It was the only way that she could convince herself that he was actually gone.

'Eleven days- almost two weeks.'

'A fortnight,' Sam corrected in a distracted tone. She hurried to the window. 'Do you hear that?'

Tucker struggled to his feet and joined her there, just in time to see the returning police van turn the corner and disappear from sight.

Neither spoke, they both ran out of Sam's large, darkly decorated room, and down to the street.

'Quick!' Tucker panted, but Sam was already far ahead of him, at the corner. There, she stopped, a disappointed expression on her face.

'It's gone,' she said flatly, staring down the empty street.

'Did you really think,' puffed the Techno-geek. 'That we could outrun a car?'

He turned and began to walk back to the house.

'Woah, wait,' Sam caught his arm before he could get too far away. 'We're following that van.'

'Why?' Tucker cried in outrage, pulling out of Sam's grasp. 'We don't know where it went.'

The Goth nodded determinedly. 'Yes, we do. Mrs Fenton was in that van, and you know that she won't leave the lab for anything but Phantom- Danny must be in there.'

Tucker sighed. 'It could also be empty. Maybe it was a false alarm.'

Sam walked off in the direction of Fenton Works, sick of the argument. Tucker groaned and followed.

'You'd better be right,' he growled.

**DPDPDPDP**

The back of the police van was dark, the only light came from Danny, who faintly glowed with a ghostly luminescence. The device on his chest no longer sparked, Danny had figured out how it worked. If he tried to use his powers, it would shock him with his own energy. He had tried to pry it off of him, but that also activated the hated invention.

It didn't prevent Danny from anything else, though. He could still move and speak, but his voice had long since gone dry from his screaming. He doubted that his kidnappers would give him a glass of water. Despite his aching body, Danny would not go quietly. He didn't see who had put him in the back of the van, and so he didn't know where he was going. He made as much noise as he could without using his voice- kicking and punching the walls of his prison. It was pointless.

The van had been traveling for what seemed, to Danny, an eternity. Like before, when he had been flying, the ghost boy lost all sense of time. The back of the van was similar to a story that Danny had heard about convicts in Australia. If they didn't cooperate, they were thrown into small rooms called 'dark cells'. If left there long enough, the convicts could go insane. Danny thought he could feel his mind slipping already.

The van stopped again, only the third stop that Danny remembered since the drive started. Of course, he couldn't recall much of the beginning of the journey.

This time, the door to Danny's cell was opened. The dim light of sunset dazzled him, making him close his eyes in pain. He wondered if he would ever be able to see properly again.

A pair of rough hands yanked him out. Danny sprawled out on the ground, gritty concrete scratching his face. He could feel ectoplasm leaking out of a cut above his eye. He was pulled to his feet.

'Get up,' a familiar voice demanded sternly. 'Help me get him to the lab.' She ordered of another person.

Danny heard a woman's hesitant reply. 'Don't you think he should come with me? He _is_ a criminal.'

'No,' came the hard reply. 'You don't have the proper equipment. Remember, _no one_ can know we found him.'

Danny tried opening his eyes and immediately regretted it. The small glimpse had confirmed both his hope and fear. He was home- but only as another ghost experiment for his mother. He doubted that he would be able to escape, not without his father there to unknowingly assist him.

Guilt and regret attacked Danny in waves. _I got myself into this_.

**DPDPDPDP**

Sam jiggled the doorknob. 'That's strange,' she muttered.

'What's strange?' Tucker snarled beside her. His feet hurt.

'The door's locked.'

'What?' frowned Tucker. 'They never lock the door. How're we meant to get in now?'

Sam shook her head slowly. 'I don't know. Lets go back.'

'Back?' Tucker groaned. 'Can't we rest a bit here, first?'

The Goth glared at him, but it held no venom. Footsteps rapidly approached them from the street.

'Hey, guys, what are you doing here?' Jazz asked testily. Danny's disappearance had hit her more than anyone else. 'Danny's not home.'

'We, uh, left some stuff of ours in his room,' Sam lied uneasily. 'Could you let us in?'

Jazz nodded and moved past them to the door. 'Mum tells me to lock it now,' she said distractedly to the lock. 'I don't know why, but it has something to do with Danny.' She suddenly turned any looked at Sam and Tucker with a strange hope gleaming in her eyes. 'You haven't heard from him, have you?'

Tucker shook his head. 'Sorry.'

Jazz sighed and walked into the house. 'That's what I thought.'

Sam and Tucker looked at each other guiltily. They could have told Jazz about the van, but didn't want her to get her hopes up too high. She would only have a further way to fall.

Jazz left without saying anything else, climbing the stairs to her room like each step was a mountain. She looked exhausted, as if she might fall over at any moment. Sam and Tucker both knew that she wouldn't notice them go to the lab instead of them following her up.

They crept down to the basement, listening out for any sound that might get them caught. At the lab entrance, they halted, confused. They hadn't visited Fenton Works in a while, but the large, heavy-looking, metal door was definitely new.

They both frowned at it, thinking.

'How do you think it opens?' Tucker asked.

Sam shrugged. 'How would I know? You're the Techno-geek- is there a hidden lock, or something?'

Just as Sam finished talking, a grinding clank came from the door. It sounded like it was being opened.

'Quick!' Tucker whispered to Sam. They ran into the kitchen as fast as the could, hiding under the table. Neither wanted to be caught by Mrs Fenton. The last few weeks had been hard on her, so she was being hard on everyone else. She had been treating all of the people to visit like she used to treat ghosts- cold and calculating. Sam hated to know what she was now doing to the ghosts she caught.

A pair of black shoes appeared from the lab, stomping angrily in the direction of the living room. Sam raised a finger to her lips, then gestured for Tucker to follow her. Tucker didn't protest. He knew that it was a waste of time, and that time was a resource they were rapidly running out of.

As they ran through the open door, the pair were expecting the sight that greeted them in the lab, but that didn't make it any easier. They pushed all emotions out of their heads- they needed to get Danny out fast.

He was tied to the lab table, not surprisingly, but he was conscious. He looked up as they came in, fear rapidly being replaced by relief, then guilt.

'Sam! Tucker!' He exclaimed quietly. 'What are you doing here?'

Sam rolled her eyes at the stupid question and didn't bother to answer. Tucker was already by the lab table, examining it.

'Ah! There it is!' He whispered. Soon after, the bonds securing Danny to the table disappeared. The ghost boy sat up. 'Wait, what's that?'

Danny looked down at where Tucker was pointing. He sighed. 'A new invention,' he told them bitterly. 'I can't use my ghost powers or it shocks me.'

'Why don't you take it off?'

'Do you seriously think that I wouldn't have tried that, Tucker?'

Sam stepped forward, next to Danny. She looked at the device for a few seconds then reached for it. Phantom caught her hand before she could touch it.

'Stop,' he warned. 'It could shock me again... or you, I don't know how it works.'

'You said it cancelled out your ghost powers,' Sam reminded him. Her hand quickly darted out of his grasp, pulling the device off of his chest like she was ripping off a band-aid. It separated from Danny with a quiet popping sound.

The ghost boy looked at her in awe. 'H-how-' he stuttered.

Sam raised an eyebrow. 'I have no ghost powers.'

Tucker looked at her in respect as she laid the device on the table next to Danny. Footsteps sounded above, getting closer to the open lab door.

Sam and Tucker gripped Danny's hand as Maddie's foot appeared around the corner. The three of them went invisible- just in time. The ghost hunter didn't even glimpse the trio as they escaped, floating through the ceiling and into Danny's room.

Her scream of frustration echoed through the town.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**I'm multi-tasking! Writing this and watching Danny Phantom episodes!**

**As this is my 11th week on FanFiction and 11 is my lucky number, I am uploading two chapters! Enjoy!**

**Rest of AN will be in next chapter :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Danny silently closed his bedroom door and leant against the frame. He turned to face his two friends. Both were sitting on the bed, watching him. He smiled tiredly.

'Thanks, guys,' his voice was croaky and rough. A pair of glowing blue rings appeared, leaving Fenton standing in Phantom's place. 'Could one of you please get me a glass of water?'

Tucker nodded and started to get up. Another scream of rage made the trio jump. It wasn't as loud as the first, but it was just as terrifying.

Tucker sat down again. 'Maybe we should go to Sam's house.'

Still spooked, Sam and Danny agreed.

Transforming into Phantom again, Danny promised himself a long rest when he had the chance. Invisible, the three of them flew out the window and into the rapidly darkening sky. It didn't take very long for them to arrive at Sam's house. They floated through the wall and into her room without anyone noticing.

Danny collapsed onto the bed, his white hair turning black and his eyes closing with exhaustion. He was asleep before Sam and Tucker could ask him any questions.

**DPDPDPDP**

_Darn it_! Maddie cursed, kicking the lab table. Strands of her reddish-brown hair hung over her flushed face, giving her a demented appearance. She felt demented as well. Phantom had been weak and vulnerable, there was no way he could have escaped- not without help. The thought made her pause.

'Jasmine!' She hollered. There was no one else in the house. It had to have been her. Maddie stalked over to the base of the stairs, looking up to see her daughter tentatively appear at the top.

Jazz looked backwards over her shoulder, frowning in confusion. 'Mum, did you close Danny's door?'

'No,' Maddie responded curtly. 'Get down here.' Jazz slowly descended the stairs. 'Now!' The ghost hunter growled.

When her daughter was standing on the same level as herself, Maddie fixed her with a pointed stare. Jazz visibly shrank under the intense gaze.

'Jazz, have you been in my lab?'

'No,' she frowned. 'I've been in my room, and before that, I was at the library, and before that-'

'Ok!' Maddie interrupted, throwing her hands up. 'Then can you please explain how Phantom got away?'

The puzzlement in her daughter's eyes was too pure to be fake. She really didn't know that Maddie had captured Phantom.

'I-I don't-'

Maddie cut her off again, a new thought occurring to her. 'Did you let anyone into the house?'

This time, Jazz cast her gaze to the floor. The ghost hunter narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

'No,' Jazz lied uneasily, unable to look at her mother. 'No one wants to come here anymore.'

'Jazz-'

'I didn't let anyone in, I swear!'

'Jazz!' Maddie raged. 'Tell me the truth, now!'

'I am telling the truth!' Jazz yelled back, still avoiding her mother's face. She wore a crafty, calculating expression.

Maddie waited a few moments to calm down, and then gave her daughter a reassuring smile. She knew how to manipulate her- what behaviour to display, what threats to issue.

'Jasmine,' she said kindly, though all of her being wanted to scream at her. 'You know I can get what I want from you. All the equipment is downstairs.' Maddie watched with pleasure as her daughter's eye widened in fear.

'Sam and Tucker,' Jazz spat. 'They needed something from Danny's room. I-I saw them go in.' She lied. 'They left right after.'

Maddie nodded. 'Thank you, Jasmine.'

Without being prompted, Jazz sprinted up the stairs. Soon after, her door slammed shut.

Maddie spun on her heel and walked back to the lab. Everything was finally adding up, but she wasn't quite sure that she was ready to know the truth.

**DPDPDPDP**

Jazz's eyes burnt with more than just tears. Humiliation formed a hollow pit in her stomach, a pit that was rapidly filling with anger. She couldn't believe how quickly she had caved in to her mother's pressure. And how easily she let Sam and Tucker in to free Danny. Jazz had no doubt that her brother had been the reason they came.

Her suitcase sounded unusually loud as she crammed all necessary belongings into it. She had to get away from Maddie- she had to find Sam and Tucker, see what they knew. The phone rang downstairs.

_Not now_! Jazz groaned inwardly, hearing the steady beat of her mother's shoes enter the kitchen. _That's my way out... Gone_.

Jazz didn't have Danny's hearing abilities, so the phone conversation going on downstairs was an intelligible blur of sound. Hearing the phone being put down, Jazz quickly hid her suitcase behind the door, in case Maddie decided to come in.

Right on cue, her mother appeared on the top of the stairs, looking pale and afraid. Worried about something.

'Jazz, dear,' the ghost hunter said, and in that moment, she sounded like the old her- the kind Maddie. 'Jazz, I... I need to go to the hospital. Do you want to come?'

'What's wrong? Is Dad waking up?'

Maddie didn't reply for what seemed like an age. 'No... Oh, I don't know,' she wiped a hand across her face anxiously. 'I have to go. Will you... I'll see you when I get back.'

Jazz nodded numbly. She didn't notice as her mother left, closing the door and locking it as she left.

_It could be good news_, Jazz tried to reassure herself. _Maybe_.

She didn't even believe her own thoughts.

Acting on autopilot, Jazz trudged back into her room. The suitcase, as she lifted it up onto her bed, seemed to weigh a ton. Staring at it for a few minutes, she slowly unzipped it, and began to unpack.

She couldn't leave now.

**AN: **

**Second chapter for this week!**

**Thanks to ****_everyone_**** who reviewed, favourited and/or followed this story!**

**You know it's coming...**

**Please review, favourite and/or follow this story! I would like feedback on both chapters, if possible.**

**Have a nice week!**

**pale-blue11**


	10. Chapter 10

Danny blinked and opened his eyes. The room was dark and unfamiliar to him. Immediately alert, he sat up and scanned his surroundings. As his eyes adjusted, Danny could make out shapes around him. He breathed a sigh of relief. He was in Sam's room. So that on the floor must be Sam.

Feeling guilty for having to do it, Danny reached out and woke his friend. She sat up so fast that the ghost boy had to quickly pull back, or risk a broken nose.

'Danny!' Sam gasped. 'Don't do that!'

He smiled sheepishly. 'Sorry. Could I get a glass of water?'

Sam rolled back over, away from him. 'Of course. You didn't have to wake me. Just be quiet- my parents don't know you're here.'

'I'll be dead silent,' Danny joked. 'They won't hear me.'

He felt energized, ready for anything. He could get a glass of water, easy. Going intangible, Danny floated down through the bed and started looking for the kitchen. It took a while- Sam's house looked different at night- but he eventually found the room he was searching for.

Deciding not to open any cupboards, in case the hinges made a noise, Danny reached through the doors and grabbed a glass. He turned it intangible, also, then brought it out. Staring at the tap, Danny thought about how he was going to get water.

_Oh, the fridge._ He smiled, glad to have thought of the solution, and then reached through the fridge door. Soon, he was back in Sam's room, thoroughly hydrated. His throat no longer felt like sandpaper.

The bed, when he lay down, was soft, but Danny couldn't seem to get comfortable. He wasn't the least bit tired, and that caused a problem. Now, at night, with nothing else to do, Danny thought and remembered.

That was the last thing he ever wanted.

_Why am I back_? He wondered. _What can I do here_? _The whole town hates me._

He sighed softly, reflecting. Should he go home? That probably wasn't such a bad idea, maybe if his mother saw that he was okay, she would leave Phantom alone.

Danny mentally snorted, unwilling to wake Sam. _As if she will ever leave Phantom alone, not after what I did_.

Still, his heart cried for him to go home. It longed to know what had happened since he left. Maybe his father had woken up, which Danny severely doubted from the questions Maddie had asked him. He shuddered, recalling her treatment of him. Several uncountable hours, locked in that dark van, then what seemed like an eternity strapped to the lab table, keeping silent through all of the questions asked of him.

Danny rolled onto his side and gazed down on the sleeping figure on the floor beside him. A soft smile touched his lips as he looked at her peaceful face. He knew the reasons for his disappearance, but, right now, Danny couldn't believe that he had ever left her.

**DPDPDPDP**

'I'm sorry.' The doctor finished, leaving Maddie to her thoughts.

She nodded numbly, indicating that he could go. She needed to sort something out.

The ghost hunter had always noticed a familiarity about Phantom. She had put it down to all those hours spent chasing after the elusive ghost. Only since her husband's accident, Maddie had noticed little quirks in her son's behaviour. They had been there before, of course, his unwillingness to go near the ghost hunting equipment, always disappearing when a ghost was nearby. In fact, the only time that she remembered seeing both Danny and Phantom together was when Fenton Works was being attacked by a ghost called...

_Oh, what was it_? Maddie thought in frustration. _Technus! Of course_.

That had been a very confusing night, with Danny acting strange, and Jazz claiming to have seen two Danny's at the same time.

A thought entered, uninvited, into Maddie's mind. _What if she really had seen two Danny's_?

She banished the thought. It was impossible- but then so were many other aspects of the Fenton's lives. Was it easier for Maddie to accept that her daughter was, as Jazz had stated, 'nuts'? Probably, but there was something strange going on with her son, and Maddie was fairly sure that she had figured out his secret. She just needed to work out a way to prove her hypothesis.

**DPDPDPDP**

Sam woke up to the sound that she had immediately grown to despise. Her parents walking down the hallway to her bedroom. Didn't they know that Goths liked the dark?

Sam rolled over to wait for the inevitable, but then dread filled her as she noted her surroundings. Swearing quietly, she launched herself off of the floor and onto the bed. Startled blue eyes opened hurriedly, shock evident on Danny's face. The footsteps were getting closer to her room.

'Sam! What are-' Danny exclaimed quietly.

'Shh!' Sam warned. 'Quick- you have to hide. My parents!'

The door opened, but Danny was gone, hiding invisibly under Sam's bed.

'Good morning!' A cheerful male voice greeted. The voice turned inquisitive. 'Sam? What are you doing?'

Sam stared at her parents. The blanket and pillow that she had slept with were thrown across the floor, she sheets underneath her also tangled.

'I, uh,' Sam stalled as she tried to think of a reasonable excuse. 'I... fell off the bed?'

Both teenagers winced as they heard the question in her words. Luckily, her parents didn't seem to notice.

'My poor darling,' Mrs Manson gushed. 'Are you ok?'

Sam pushed away her mother's advances. 'I'm fine,' she growled, then glanced at the clock. Her expression turned incredulous. 'Six o'clock? It's Sunday, why did you wake me up so early?'

Mr Manson walked over to the window, opening the curtains and allowing the pale orange light of dawn to seep into the dreary room. 'We wanted to know if you wanted anything- your mother and I are going for a walk.'

'Yes,' Sam yelled. 'I do want something! I want to sleep!'

Her heart rate still hadn't gone down. She couldn't imagine what could have happened if her parents knew that Danny was here- they hated the Fenton's. Well, she could imagine, but that didn't mean that she particularly wanted to do so. Sam needed her parents out of her room fast. If that meant being a little rough, so be it.

The look on her parents' faces killed Sam, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

_I'll make it up to them later_, she vowed. Verbally, no one spoke. Mr and Mrs Manson left silently, only the click of the door closing to mark their absence.

Sam sighed and leant her head in her hands, sitting up straight in the edge of her bed. She almost screamed when a cool arm wrapped around her shoulders.

_Danny_, she realised. A wave of embarrassment broke over her. _He heard everything_.

'Danny, I-I mean, it's not usually like-'

He interrupted her with a chuckle. 'Doesn't matter. Sounds like me and Jazz.'

'Jazz and I,' Sam sighed and fell back onto the bed, letting out a strange noise of agreement. Danny looked at her in amusement, but instead of laughing, his face dropped.

'Is it really Sunday?' He asked. Sam nodded. 'Great. School tomorrow.' His voice held no joy for the prospect of learning.

Sam looked up at him in surprise. 'You mean that you're actually coming to school?'

'Sure, why wouldn't I?'

She could thing of many reasons not to go, but knew that her list would just upset him. She sat up and looked down at her feet.

'So... When are you going home?'

Danny smirked. 'Getting rid of me?'

Sam punched him playfully. 'You can't go back to school without going home, first.'

'Oh, yeah. I hadn't thought of that.' He rubbed the back of his neck. 'That is going to be a tough conversation.'

Sam agreed. They sat in silence for a few moments, then Danny clapped his hands onto his knees and stood up.

'Well, I'd better go,' he smiled crookedly. 'No use procrastinating.'

''Procrastinating',' Sam teased. 'That's a big word- for you.'

Danny's expression was unreadable as, in one smooth motion, he morphed into Phantom and flew out the window. Sam stood and closed the curtains before going back to sleep.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**Had to upload this before we go out- it's my little sister's birthday! And also another great friend of mine :) I don't know if she wants the internet to know, so I'm not saying her name :) Happy birthday to you both!**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and/or followed this story! Thanks!**

**And as always: please review, favourite and/or follow if you liked this chapter! This story already has the same amount of reviews as my first one- and this isn't even finished yet! :D**

**Oh- a side note: this is going to slow down soon. Next update will be usual time, but I'm not sure after that. Sorry!**

**Have a good week!**

**pale-blue11**


	11. Chapter 11

She could thing of many reasons not to go, but knew that her list would just upset him. She sat up and looked down at her feet.

'So... When are you going home?'

Danny smirked. 'Getting rid of me?'

Sam punched him playfully. 'You can't go back to school without going home, first.'

'Oh, yeah. I hadn't thought of that.' He rubbed the back of his neck. 'That is going to be a tough conversation.'

Sam agreed. They sat in silence for a few moments, then Danny clapped his hands onto his knees and stood up.

'Well, I'd better go,' he smiled crookedly. 'No use procrastinating.'

''Procrastinating',' Sam teased. 'That's a big word- for you.'

Danny's expression was unreadable as, in one smooth motion, he morphed into Phantom and flew out the window. Sam stood and closed the curtains before going back to sleep.

**Chapter 11**

Danny landed silently on the front step of Fenton Works, looking around and scanning the area for any people. Quickly, he changed back into human form. He wanted to enter his home normally. The first thing he said to his mother when he returned shouldn't be a lie.

Danny tried the doorknob, frowning when it wouldn't turn. He shook it, as if that would let him in, then gave up and knocked. He couldn't remember the last time the door was locked- at least not during the day. Tentative footsteps approached the door, followed by a flat, emotionless voice.

'Who's there?'

Danny breathed a sigh of relief. Until that moment, he hadn't realised just how reluctant he was to see his mother again. 'It's me,' he called.

There was a pause, and Danny wondered if Jazz had walked away. She had been really mad last time they spoke. Then, the door crept open. Jazz stood behind it, looking at her brother incredulously.

'Danny?' She whispered. 'Quick- get inside.'

She reached out and pulled him into the house, closing the door and locking it. Danny watched her as she slumped against the frame, her shoulders trembling.

'Jazz? Are you... Are you ok?'

There was no answer. Danny took a deep breath, knowing that it would be a very bad move to get annoyed right now. If he yelled at Jazz, or even asked her a question when she didn't feel like talking, he ran the risk of igniting her anger. And an angry Jazz was _not_ fun. Instead, Danny watched her as she slowly composed herself and turned to face him. She would have been perfectly happy to never see him again. But it was only a matter of time- if Maddie had brought Phantom back to Amity Park, of course she would automatically bring back Danny by default. They were the same person, and Jazz had stopped thinking of Danny and Phantom as separate beings since the news of her father's accident reached her.

His blue eyes rested gently, hopefully, on hers. They begged Jazz to forgive him. Unfortunately, the last two weeks had not diluted her hatred of the ghost boy.

'Say something, Jazz,' Danny requested softly. 'Please.'

She stalked past him silently, only the sound of her shoes on the floor answering him.

'Jazz,' Danny cried, chasing after her. He hadn't thought of how his sister would feel about seeing him again. 'Please!'

Halting on the top step, Jazz spun around fiercely, glaring at her brother. Wisely, Danny retreated a few steps down the stairs.

'What do you want me to say?' Jazz asked viciously. Her voice raised goosebumps on Danny's arms. 'Do you want me to say 'don't worry, dear brother, I forgive you'!'

Danny was paralyzed. Jazz advanced towards him. In that moment, Danny was the one with ghost powers, but Jazz was still scarier and more dangerous. She was a younger version of her mother.

'Because I don't,' she continued, her voice rising in volume. 'I will never forgive you! Dad is quite possibly about to die, and it's all your fault, Danny!'

Danny wanted to protest, to make her understand, but he wasn't sure that he believed himself. It was unintentional, but Jack was in hospital, and it was because of him.

There were so many different thoughts cascading through his mind, but Danny could only whisper one of them. 'Dad's dying?'

Jazz let out a choked growl, tears brimming in her eyes, threatening to overflow. Without replying, she sprinted into her room. The house shook as she slammed her door closed.

Danny collapsed onto the stairs, cradling his head in his hands. Trembling, he focused on holding in his tears.

_Dad's in hospital, Mum hates half of me, and Jazz hates all of me. Could it get any worse?_ He wondered. The thought opened the floodgates that he had been trying so hard to keep closed. Tears streamed soundlessly down his face, but Danny made no move to wipe them away. Distantly, he heard the front door open.

**DPDPDPDP**

Maddie unlocked the door to Fenton Works. As she let herself in, she almost didn't notice the boy sitting half-way up the staircase.

'Danny?' Her face screwed up in confusion. 'How did you get here?'

_I brought him back_. A voice whispered.

A different part of her mind replied. _No. Danny can't be Phantom. I would know_.

The second opinion overruled the first voice, and Maddie's maternal instinct compelled her to comfort her son. She would determine the truth later.

'Oh, honey,' Maddie exclaimed sympathetically, rushing to his side. 'What happened?'

Danny looked up at her, fear shining in his eyes, then it was quickly replaced with relief. The fear hurt and confused Maddie. He had never looked at her like that, like she was going to harm him.

'M-Mum?' he stammered, throwing his arms around her neck. 'I'm so sorry.'

Maddie smiled over his shoulder. Danny's cold embrace comforted her as much as it did him.

_Has he always been this cold_? Maddie thought. Her back stiffened and she leant away from her son, studying his face. Danny squirmed under the inspection, unable to look at her.

Maddie frowned. _That's strange_.

Danny stood up awkwardly. 'I'm really tired. I'm going to go to bed.'

Maddie nodded, sensing that she had somehow made her son uncomfortable. _What did I do_?

As Danny opened his bedroom door, another thought occurred to Maddie. 'Oh, Danny?' He turned to look at her. 'Where have you been?'

His face became hard, unreadable. 'I... don't really know. I-I can't actually remember any of the last twelve days.'

With that, he escaped into his room at last.

Maddie walked thoughtfully to the lab. There was almost no denying it. Her son was- no, is- Phantom. She couldn't believe that she hadn't seen it before. A few doubts floated through her head. What could she so about it? That ghost had put her husband in hospital, and had been posing as her son for God knows how long. He deserved justice, but what if she was wrong?

Maddie looked around the lab, noticing a few pieces of equipment. She smiled as a plan formed in her head.

It was simple, really.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**It's Thursday! I know! But I'm going away for Easter and leaving tonight so... here it is! Early!**

**Next chapter will be next Friday, like usual.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and/or followed. This is my most reviewed story EVER! Yay!**

**So please review, favourite and/or follow this chapter as well. Every email alert is precious to me :)**

**Have a nice week, and happy Easter!**

**pale-blue11**


	12. Chapter 12

'Wow,' Sam remarked as she met Danny by the school gate. 'I can't believe you actually _came_.'

He smiled crookedly at her, but the smile excluded his eyes. They looked dark and...

_Guarded, _Sam noticed_. He's hiding something_.

The notion was ridiculous- Danny wouldn't hide anything from her... Would he? Sam wanted desperately to be able to say no.

'Wouldn't miss it,' Danny said sarcastically, bringing Sam back into the conversation. 'Will Tucker be here?'

'Yeah, he rang me last night, asking about you.'

Danny smirked, but his heart wasn't into it. 'Good to know that someone cares.'

'You know I care about you!' Sam slapped his shoulder, then thought about what she said. 'We're... best friends!' She added awkwardly, hoping that Danny couldn't see the pink stain that was rapidly colouring her face.

Luckily, he didn't look at her. He was scanning the crowd of students before them, searching for Tucker. Finding him, Danny grabbed Sam's elbow and gently pulled her through the crowd.

After a tap on his shoulder, Tucker turned around questioningly. When he saw his two best friends, his expression turned from one of puzzlement to happiness.

'Danny!' He exclaimed. 'You're back! Why'd you come to school, dude? I mean, Sam told me you were coming, but I know that if I had been missing for almost two weeks, I would have the Monday off.'

Danny nodded, but he had gone quiet at the reminder of his disappearance. Sam noticed this, and put a hand on his shoulder. 'Danny?'

He stepped out of her reach; gaze unable to leave the ground. 'Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not going to do that again- I promise.'

A fourth student entered the conversation, but with a new topic of his own.

'Hey, Fenton,' Dash said. 'How's your dad? I heard that he's in hospital... A _mental_ hospital.'

Danny's shoulders tensed, but he didn't turn to acknowledge the bully's presence.

This wasn't the reaction that Dash wanted. 'Maybe your mum should go there, too, seeing how she's gone completely insane over-'

The rest of his taunt was cut off when Danny turned and swung his fist. It hit the larger boy's jaw like a truck, actually lifting Dash a few feet into the air, before he landed in a startled heap on the grass. The alarmed students scattered, leaving only Sam, Tucker, Dash and Danny outside.

Danny's eyes glowed a fluorescent green, his anger so concentrated that the light was visible from inside the school. He ran towards Dash and kicked him. Watching from various windows, every student heard the bully's leg break as he was once again thrown across the lawn.

'Danny!' Sam and Tucker yelled at the same time. 'Stop!'

**DPDPDPDP**

He hesitated, staring down at Dash's crumpled form at his feet. Gradually, the green glow faded. Danny jumped as a stern voice spoke from the school entrance.

'Mr Fenton!' Lancer looked furious- he was actually intimidating. 'Get away from Mr Baxter! Now!'

Danny stumbled slightly as he struggled to control his anger. It wouldn't help his situation if he attacked the teacher as well. Taking deep breaths, Danny stared at Dash. He supposed that he should feel embarrassed, regretful, but the only emotion that he now contained was raw, burning fury.

Mr Lancer checked Dash's injuries hurriedly- an ambulance was already on its way- then he spun to glare at Danny. This meant _lots_ of paperwork. Any other time, Danny would have withered under the look that Lancer was directing at him, but anger clouded his judgment.

'Follow me, Mr Fenton.' Lancer growled, stalking to his office. Danny followed, head held high. None of the students he passed could meet his eye- not even Sam or Tucker. He kept a look of cold defiance on his face as he followed Lancer. The bell rang, but no one moved. It was as if the school was populated by statutes.

**DPDPDPDP**

Mr Lancer jerked open his office door, gesturing roughly for Danny to precede him, then he slammed it behind them. Sitting down behind his desk, Mr Lancer watched Danny take the seat in front of him.

'Mr Fenton,' Lancer began, his voice as smooth as honey, but laced with a deadly poison. 'Just what do you think you just did?'

Danny glared at his teacher. There was no trace of the quiet boy that Lancer was accustomed to.

'I taught him a lesson,' Danny replied. 'He needed it.'

Mr Lancer closed his eyes. 'No,' he said patronizingly. 'He needed to see me. Any problems go through the teacher.' His voice grew dangerous. 'Do you understand that?'

Danny looked up at him, a faint amusement flickering in his eyes. 'Honestly? No. What gives a teacher the right to sort out our problems?'

'I have a better right than you! I could have talked to Mr Baxter, made him see reason-'

'Then why didn't you?' Danny asked, his voice deadly calm. Lancer hesitated, remembering what this boy had done. He should be careful, in case he should wake up in hospital with Mr Baxter. He decided to try a new approach.

'Mr Fenton, I know what you're going through. Your father may be in hospital, but that's not a good enough reason to beat up your fellow students.'

Danny watched him with an almost curious expression. Lancer continued in a soft, persuasive voice.

'What happened to your father was not your fault,' Danny flinched, almost unnoticeably. 'But what happened to Mr Baxter was. I am sorry, but you're expelled.'

If Lancer was expecting an explosion, he would be sorely disappointed. Danny stood up calmly, a slight smile on his face, and left the office, closing the door quietly behind him.

Mr Lancer leant forward onto his desk, trying to calm down.

_Has the bell gone_? He wondered. _I have to get to class._

Standing on slightly unsteady legs, Lancer wobbled to the door that Mr Fenton had just exited through. There, he braced himself against the frame, taking deep breaths. He had never seen anyone do what Fenton had done with apparent ease- put a boy at least twice his size in hospital. And the look in his eyes afterwards- as if he didn't regret anything- that was terrifying.

Unable to help himself, Lancer opened the door and scanned the corridors for any sign of Fenton. He sighed in relief. All clear.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**Wow, I'm having a good week! Don't know why, it's just good :)**

**I'm sorry about the Dash/Danny scene :( I remember it being better, but I can't write insults D:**

**:O I just heard my mum trip over the cat**

**So, GIGANTIC thank you to the reviewers, favouriters and/or followers! (That's right- I wrote it different :P) I can't believe I have 42 reviews! I'm gonna start writing this one again...**

**Please review, favourite and/or follow this chapter :) I have nothing to give you, just my eternal happiness :)**

**Have a nice week!**

**pale-blue11**


	13. Chapter 13

_I've been doing a lot of this_, Danny thought as he flew, invisibly, over Amity Park. _Maybe I should stop_.

It wouldn't help for him to be seen. No one except his family and close friends knew that Phantom was back, and he didn't know how his return would be accepted. Would they forgive and forget? Or did the citizens of Amity Park- who he had protected for so long- now hate him?

Landing on the street below, Phantom contemplated his next move. He had several options.

The first was to visit the hospital, see how his father was going. Danny had tried to ask Maddie about him, but couldn't bring himself to get too close to her. She seemed to radiate anti-Danny waves. Besides, the prospect of running into his dad's ghost again was not a nice one.

The second was to go back to Casper High, see Sam and Tucker. The only problem with that idea was his expulsion. Danny knew that if he went back to school, someone would recognize him. But there could be a way around that.

Shaking his head thoughtfully, Danny considered the third option- find somewhere quiet and lonely to spend the day, before going back to a house that was gradually growing more and more hostile. He was sure that both Maddie and Jazz had heard about the morning's events- he did not want to go there.

Option 2 it is, Danny thought with false enthusiasm. He would visit Casper High, invisibly. No one would be able to recognize him. Danny could lure Sam and Tucker away to a private corner, where they could talk. Just like old times.

Shooting off into the sky like an invisible arrow, Danny commenced his flight.

**DPDPDPDP**

Sam and Tucker sat in the middle of the cafeteria, staring gloomily at nothing. Their food sat untouched before them- even Tucker's. Neither wanted to talk. To not see Danny for nearly two weeks was extremely taxing, but now he was back, and they still couldn't see him. It felt like fate was spitting in their faces, and then laughing. Tucker could imagine that he was able to hear the uproarious laughter, mocking him about his bad fortune.

_Bad luck Tuck_, he remembered_. Maybe it's true._

A pale, slim hand interrupted his musings. He looked up at the student standing before him and Sam, leaning on the table and looking very serious.

'Hey, Jazz,' he heard Sam say. 'What's up?'

None of the three noticed an invisible ghost boy, hovering above their heads. He had arrived at the same time as Jazz, and was now curious as to what his sister was going to say. She hadn't been talking to him very much.

Jazz sat down opposite the pair and observed them for a few seconds. Just as Tucker was about to speak, she opened her mouth.

'It was you, wasn't it?' She accused.

Sam and Tucker frowned at each other in confusion.

'I'm sorry?' Sam asked.

'You know what I mean- you both do!' Jazz kept her voice to a furious whisper, leaning in closer to make their conversation more private. 'You let Danny out of the lab.'

Tucker looked at Jazz, puzzled. 'Well, yeah. Why wouldn't we?'

'Because he's dangerous- that's why!'

Sam laughed out loud at the accusation. 'Danny? Dangerous? You have _got_ to be kidding me.'

Jazz's face turned red in anger, but her voice was deadly calm. 'He needs to be caught before he does anything else. Who knows,' she threw her hands up into the air. 'Maybe he'll _kill_ someone next time.'

Sam stood up, motioning Tucker to follow. Jazz continued speaking from her seat. 'I'll tell, you know.'

Tucker chuckled at the thought. 'Tell who what exactly?'

Jazz raised an eyebrow mockingly. 'I wonder,' she said. 'How long you will be able to live in a town where everybody hates you.'

Sam and Tucker sat back down, glaring at her. Jazz just smiled and kept speaking.

'How many people will shun you for being Phantom's friends. How long it will take for your families to fall apart... Have I made my point?'

'Yes,' Sam growled. Tucker didn't think he understood what Jazz was saying. Was she _threatening _them? 'What are you trying to tell us?'

Jazz leant back slightly. 'Easy. I want you, when you see Danny next, to give him a message for me.' She paused, waiting for a sign that they understood. 'Tell him to meet me outside Nasty Burger at 4:00pm. If he doesn't turn up, I'll tell everyone about you two helping Phantom.' She narrowed her eyes in warning. 'Lets see what they think about that.'

Jazz left abruptly, possibly just to let the weight of her words sink in. Tucker looked incredulously at Sam. 'So, what she's saying is...'

The Goth mirrored his expression. 'If Danny doesn't show up, we're in deep trouble.'

'But what happens if he does show up?'

'I don't know, Tucker,' Sam said, anger flaring. 'You heard the same as me.'

They sat in silence, the noise of the cafeteria seeming to disappear, as if they were seated inside a soundproof bubble.

Finally, Tucker asked the question that neither wanted to answer. 'What are we going to do?'

'Argh, I don't know,' Sam admitted, tugging gently on a few strands of her black hair. Danny wanted to float down and comfort her, but restrained himself. Just.

'Well,' Tucker said with finality. 'I can't do it- I can't just dismiss Danny like that. I doubt that Jazz just wants to talk.'

Sam nodded. 'Agreed. We don't tell Danny about this- if we do, he'll just go, anyway. He's too predictable, and we don't know enough about the situation.'

Danny heard them talking. A smile crept onto his face as he listened. They were such good friends. Despite the uncertainty clouding this afternoon's rendezvous, Danny was compelled to go. He couldn't let Sam or Tucker accept the blame for something that was entirely his fault.

Maybe he was predictable.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**Look, I know this is a boring chapter, but please don't hate me! I love you guys- almost 50 reviews! So, I'll set a challenge :) If I get... 55 reviews by next Friday, I'll upload two chapters!**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and/or followed this story- especially the reviewers! People on this site are so nice :) Wow! 6 reviews for one chapter :D**

**And please review, favourite and/or follow this chapter! It'll mean a lot to me :)**

**Now, I have an episode of Danny Phantom to watch. School holidays just started, so I'm celebrating!**

**Have a nice week!**

**pale-blue11**


	14. Chapter 14

'Hey, Jazz,' the disembodied voice called quietly. 'Over here.'

In the process of going to her next class, Jazz spun around in annoyance.

'What, Danny?' She asked. 'I'll be late.'

He tried to keep the frustration out of his words, but Danny knew that she could hear it. 'Just... come over here.'

Jazz rolled her eyes and slowly walked to the origin of the voice, knowing that the lazy pace would infuriate her brother. When she saw where Danny was, she lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.

'The janitor's closet?' She confirmed. 'I'm not getting in there.'

Jazz could hear, rather than see, the expression on Danny's face. 'Fine,' he conceded in an exasperated tone. 'We can talk here, but it'll have to be quick.'

His form shimmered into view, standing closer to Jazz than she had thought. Resisting the urge to cry out in surprise, she placed a cold, stone mask over her emotions.

'I'm listening- talk.'

Danny sighed in annoyance. 'I heard you threatening Sam and Tucker-'

I was not threatening them,' Jazz protested. 'It's for their own well-being.'

'- and want to tell you that I'll be there. This afternoon. Just... leave my friends out of this.'

The bell rang, informing Jazz of her tardiness.

'Great,' she muttered. She looked at her brother, killing any feelings of doubt about what she had planned for him. 'See you then.'

Danny nodded and disappeared, leaving Jazz standing all alone in the deserted corridor. She stared up at where she had last seen her brother.

'You better not make me regret this, Mum,' she murmured.

**DPDPDPDP**

Danny watched all of him old classmates socializing beneath him from his position, high in a tree above their heads. Unconsciously, he was fiddling with a leaf that had fallen onto his shirt some time ago. It was now a pulpy mess. He knew what his mother and sister had planned for that afternoon. They wanted Phantom gone, destroyed. No doubt, Jazz was probably hoping that whatever eradicated Phantom would kill Danny as a bonus. The only thing that he had to hold onto was that Maddie didn't know who he was. Maybe she would 'kill' Phantom, but she would leave Fenton alone.

_But what if she does know_? A dark corner of Danny's mind asked. _What if she doesn't leave me alone_?

This though brought up her strange behaviour. The suspicious glances that she kept throwing him and spending all that time in her lab, among other indicators. The only solution that Danny had for this problem was to somehow convince Maddie that he and Phantom were different beings. How could he do that when it wasn't even true?

Another leaf drifted down, landing on his hand. Danny lifted it to his face, marveling at the exquisite detail that went into the making of each of these small pieces. Discarding the other leaf, Danny fingered the new one for a while, lost in thoughts. When he looked down again, he held half of the leaf in each hand, a jagged rip marking where the separate pieces had once fit together.

His blue eyes widened. He had an idea.

Much like Vlad had done, Danny could duplicate himself and send the copy to Nasty Burger. Of course, he would have to go, as well, to deceive Maddie. Hopefully, that would get rid of any suspicions that she may have.

Able to relax, at last, Danny leant back against the trunk of the tree and closed his eyes. Maybe Jack would wake up and everything would go back to normal.

Somehow, a small part of him doubted that.

**DPDPDPDP**

It was almost four o'clock. Phantom stood in front of Nasty Burger, as Jazz had requested. A crowd of angry people pulled at his jumpsuit; Sam and Tucker seemed to be the only two missing out of the whole town. Danny stood on the outskirts of the crowd, watching his duplicate as it was punished by the citizens that Danny had promised to protect. Just like he was in a fight, Danny was aware of his duplicate. Somehow, he was able to be both the centre of attention, and ignored. He could see through the duplicate's eyes, feel the people clawing him. The tears that Danny was trying to hold back also glistened in the duplicate's eyes. How many people had Jazz told? Was there anyone in Amity Park who didn't hate him?

They were frightened back by a large flash of green light, fired by Amity Park's current resident ghost hunter- Maddie Fenton.

'Stand back!' Maddie yelled, determination blazing across her face. 'I'll take care of it.'

The angry mob moved away from the tired ghost boy.

Phantom was also looking at Maddie, as if to say 'shoot me, I dare you'.

His eyes filled with tears as he stared at one of the few people who actually meant something to him. He looked terrified, but also accepting of what was to happen next. Danny felt and understood the duplicate. It was hard to see Maddie glaring at him like that, but it was happening all to often lately.

**DPDPDPDP**

Neither ghost nor ghost hunter moved. The entire town seemed to be paralysed, no one daring to breathe.

Phantom broke the silence. 'Go ahead. I've caused enough damage. You can kill me now.' He smirked sadly. 'I'm ready.'

Maddie glared at the ghost boy. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Danny. This confused her for less than a second, but she had already witnessed other ghosts display this particular trick.

Without moving her gaze from Phantom's glowing eyes, she summoned the other half of what she had used to think of as her son. 'Danny, come here.'

The black-haired teenager crept forward, standing beside Phantom. There was something dangerous in his mother's voice. Maddie's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't believe that she hadn't seen it before. With Danny standing next to Phantom, there was no denying the similarities. They were the same person... ghost... _thing_.

Taking a few moments to compose herself, Maddie looked out at all the expectant faces that were turned towards hers.

'I have modified this ecto-gun,' Maddie declared to Amity Park. 'To be completely harmless,' she stared icily at her son. 'To humans. It will pass right through us.'

Danny's blue eyes widened slightly._ Would she really_?

The ghost hunter raised her weapon higher, allowing everyone a glimpse. 'However!' She yelled over the muttering. 'It is _fatal_ to ghosts.'

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**So you AMAZING people did what I asked and MORE! I got 10 reviews for that last chapter! :D Get ready for the next chapter, coming right now!**

**(hee hee! I got you NerdyWriterGirl! :P)**


	15. Chapter 15

Not even thinking about what she was doing, Maddie pointed her ecto-gun at her black-haired son and pulled the trigger. If he was truly human, the blast would pass straight through him, leaving him unharmed. If the situation was how Maddie suspected it to be, the shot would kill him completely. If the latter scenario came to pass, it wouldn't matter. Maddie wouldn't be killing her son- she would be killing the imposter that ruined her family.

As she expected, the green blast hit her son and he was thrown back. His chest, where he had been hit, was bubbling a dark green with blood and ectoplasm that ate at his body like acid. The exact same thing was happening to Phantom, even though he was the duplicate. Danny had never thought of what would happen to one of his copies if he was killed. Now he knew.

Identical expressions of shock and disbelief were portrayed on the faces of the two teens. The crowd muttered loudly, a few screams piercing the air as they watched their disgraced hero and his human half rapidly dissolve.

Danny and Phantom looked Maddie straight in the eye, anguish and pain evident on their faces. 'Mum,' they both whispered, and though spoken softly, the words were heard by everyone present. 'I'm so sorry.'

Bodies half-gone, Danny and Phantom staggered, Phantom merging with the black-haired teen as they both fell. Danny landed awkwardly on the ground. His hair was white, though he still wore the jeans and shirt that he was so fond of. He looked up at Jazz, hiding behind Maddie, with eyes of a blinding silver. They seemed to reflect the sunlight that he would never see again. Smiling sadly, his form slowly melted into ectoplasm, which sank into the ground, leaving no evidence to suggest what had recently occurred. That parting smile would haunt Jazz forever.

For a few moments, no one made a sound. Then, a man yelled in sudden anger. '_No!'_

It was a raw, primal sound, full of horror and confusion, and it seemed to echo through all of Amity Park, reaching into every building, every street. One by one, the crowd members left. All were silent, looking like they needed some time to think. A year should do.

Maddie stood frozen in front of Nasty Burger, still pointing the ecto-gun before her. It hadn't moved since it was used, except for the slight tremble that was gradually evolving into a shake. With a gasp, Maddie dropped the weapon and sank to her knees. It was finally over, but she didn't know whether to cry out in joy or sorrow. The sound that escaped was a choked laugh, her throat tight from all the tears that she was unable to shed. Covering her face, Maddie continued her internal battle while the crowd disappeared. She felt... lost- but shouldn't she be happy?

_I ought to be glad_, Maddie thought. _Have I made a mistake_?

**DPDPDPDP**

None of the people who gathered by Nasty Burger noticed a black and silver robotic ghost lurking on the roof above their heads. His fiery green hair waved gently as he watch the event unfold before him.

Skulker saw Maddie raise her ecto-gun, pointing it at her son. What poetic justice- killed by his own mother!

Eagerly, Skulker stood up straighter, ready to fly down as soon as the Whelp was weakened. His green eyes danced joyfully as his moment approached- soon, the ghost-boy would be his.

The green blast shot through the air. Skulker bared his teeth in an ugly grin, shaking in anticipation, but... something was wrong. Instead of the ghost-boy being flung through the air, twisting and tumbling, to land awkwardly on the unforgiving ground, stunned, easy pickings for Skulker, Danny seemed to be... melting?

'_No!' _Skulker yelled, the ghost-boy could _not _escape him again. He made to fly down, see what he could salvage. Ember would never believe him if he didn't retrieve a souvenir of his hunt. But it was already too late. All evidence had disappeared, soaked up into the ground, gone. Skulker growled as he fell into a dive, but the sight of the Whelp's mother stopped him. She was still holding the ecto-gun, and Skulker had seen first-hand what that weapon could do. He didn't want to risk it.

Snarling deeply, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter turned and flew off without a purpose. What would he do now that his favourite prey was _completely_ dead?

**DPDPDPDP**

_It's over_, Jazz realised in relief. _He's gone!_

She felt as if a massive weight had just been lifted off of her shoulders, allowing her to stand straight and

breathe easily again. The air tasted fresh, her mind no longer tainted with hatred or fear. There was no telling of what Danny could have done, what he was on the way to doing. Out of the whole of Amity Park, Jazz was the only human who could remember Dan. She and Danny had beaten back the older hybrid, trapped him in a Fenton Thermos... but what if that hadn't been enough? What if Danny had unconsciously stepped back onto that path?

With the help of Maddie, Jazz had protected the town, and she understood now why her parents had spent so much of their lives studying ghosts.

_Maybe this ghost hunting thing isn't that bad, after all_.

Rising up out of her thoughts, Jazz looked all around. The area was deserted. Only Maddie's shivering form remained, kneeling in the middle of the parking lot. Jazz felt guilt tug at her soul, but quickly shut it away, locking it away inside her where it could never escape. At least, that's what she hoped.

Jazz slowly approached Maddie, her shoes sounding like gunshots in the silent town. When she placed a hand on her mother's shoulder, she felt the muscles tense beneath her fingers. Frowning, but choosing to ignore the flinch, Jazz bent down beside Maddie. The ghost hunter's face was covered with her hands, her breath whistling in and out of the tightly woven web of fingers. Jazz tried to pry the hands off, but Maddie was having none of it.

Sitting down with a sigh, Jazz thought of a way to proceed. 'Mum?' She began. 'Can you talk to me, please?'

Maddie didn't answer.

'Mum? Please let me see your face, you're making me worry.'

There was no audible reply, but the fingers loosened and fell away. Thick, red imprints scored Maddie's face, evidence of the pressure and strength that she had been exerting. But that wasn't the most unsettling feature of Maddie's face. Her mouth was twisted into a large grin, stretched so wide that her lip had split and a small amount of blood dribbled down her chin. Her eyes danced around, shining with the light of insanity.

'I killed Danny,' Maddie whispered, her voice trailing off to a laughing sob. 'My son.'

Jazz looked around them- she didn't want anyone to see Maddie like this- and then stood up. Grasping her mother's wrists, Jazz pulled her to her feet. For a moment, Maddie looked like she was coming to collapse again, and Jazz got ready to catch her. Then, the grin faded from Maddie's lips, her eyes slowed down, stopped their frantic darting. Somehow, this new, blank expression was scarier than the one before it.

Feeling empty inside from the effort of holding back her emotions, Jazz slung one of Maddie's arms over her shoulders, and they slowly staggered back to Fenton Works.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**I promised two chapters, and here they are! I'm sorry if you didn't like them, and I have something to tell you all :/**

**I'm amazed by how much attention this story is getting! :D But I've reached the end of what I already had written. That means that the writing will (hopefully) improve, since this was written a while ago, but that I won't be updating every week :( If feel that if I spend more time on it, I can write longer chapters and they will be of a better quality.**

**Sorry, I WILL finish this story, but I'm not sure when the next chapter will come.**

**Anyway, please review, favourite and/or follow this chapter! The reviews will probably make me update faster?**

**And thank you to everyone who reviewed last week's chapter :) You guys deserve another one, but... :(**

**Have a nice... time until I see you again, OK?**

**pale-blue11**


	16. Chapter 16

** EDIT AN:**

**Sorry to the people who have already read this chapter! D: It's not a new one, but I never got an alert to say it got posted, and neither did Deborahpflover, so I assumed that no one did! I hope I'm right :/**

Dash listened to the heart rate monitor, noting how the beeping was slower than the previous day, and the one before that. Distantly, he could hear nurses walking past his door, back and forth, over and over. It was driving him insane! Here he was, trapped in the hospital, while everything interesting was happening outside. The news was still buzzing about the event of the previous week; Dash had barely turned his small television off during those first few days, but now the information was old, all of the exciting topics had been covered extensively. The news still played mutely in the corner, but Dash had turned off the sound in order to listen more closely to the heart rate monitor. It was starting to worry him.

_Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six… and that's a minute._

The jock sighed. That was much slower than it had any right to be. The peculiar thing was that he felt _fine_. Sure, his leg was broken, but it barely hurt. It was as if Fenton had only bruised it, and had not almost snapped the bone in half.

Fenton… Dash rubbed a hand over his jaw. It ought to be throbbing from the punch he had recieved, but the bruise had faded already. It had only been four days since the fight. Since then, Dash's world had turned upside-down. Fenton was Phantom. The geek he used to bully daily was the hero he worshiped. Was that some kind of sacrilege? Dash wasn't sure- he hardly knew what the word meant.

_Thirty-three, thirty-four…_ _a minute._

Never had his BPM been so slow, and evidently, it was getting slower. Panicking, Dash held his breath.

His lungs burned for air, eyes bulging and face turning red, but Dash resolved not to let his breath out until his heartbeat had increased. If he had been able, the jock would have gone for a run or done some other exercise, but his leg stopped him.

_Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight… time._

Dash greedily gasped for air. It was an improvement, and however slight, it brought a smile to his face. Calming down, he sank into the soft hospital pillow that had been provided. He didn't know how long they were planning on keeping him there, but Dash couldn't wait to leave.

**DPDPDPDP**

Sam stared blankly at the book in her hands, unable to focus on one word at a time. The lines and paragraphs seemed to form a face- _his _face. Tucker was beside her, doing the same thing. It had been almost exactly three days since Danny… went, and both of them were still in shock. Mr Lancer- never able to keep a class under complete control- wasn't even trying to suppress the hundreds of conversations that were going on at once. Sam tuned it all out, concentrating on her emotions- making sure they never surfaced.

Danny hadn't _known_ about this, had he? He hadn't known that revealing his secret in that way would have caused his best friends so much trouble, so much pain? They hadn't even _been _there! Sam had always thought that he trusted them fully, but then why hadn't he confided this in them? Despite her angered thoughts, she knew the answer.

The bell, unexpected as it was, didn't even make her flinch. The classroom rapidly emptied, leaving both Sam and Tucker to slowly pack their books alone. Well, not entirely alone. Lancer eyed them from his desk, watching them with something like wariness in his eyes.

Sam glanced up and happened to see him. Averting her gaze, she silently nudged Tucker to move faster. It seemed to take forever, but the melancholy pair finally escaped into the crowded hallway. Students walked, ran, and tripped past them, no one noticing when a large jock threw his full weight against Tucker, causing the smaller boy to fall back against the closed door.

"Come on," Sam muttered, pulling her friend's sleeve until he followed. They joined the flow of students, but their peers appeared to be actively avoiding them. Sam felt as if she and Tucker were a large, grotesque rock in the center of a river or stream, with students going past on either side, but never getting too close.

_That's them, _Casper High seemed to be whispering. _They're Phantom's friends. They helped him try to kill his father._

Her locker came up much faster than Sam expected, but she wasn't complaining. She absently turned the dial to unlock it, then grabbed the closest books, not even seeing what they were. All she wanted at that moment was to disappear into class, bury her thoughts in her schoolwork and ignore the judgmental comments being passed around her.

"Sam?" Tucker asked hesitantly, tapping her on the shoulder. Normally, Sam would spin around and glare at him for the interruption, but she just couldn't find the will.

"Yeah?" she replied, turning to face him. His eyes were dark, haunted, and full of concern.

He pointed at the books in her hands. "It's the end of the day."

Sam sighed and slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said while she put her books back in their rightful places. "I'm just… really out of it."

"I understand," Tucker nodded sadly. The hallway was almost empty now; a janitor gave them an indecipherable look as they walked past him. "I am too."

"Oh, this is _terrible_, Tuck," Sam suddenly cried out, throwing her hands up in the air. "Just _look_ at us! We can barely talk."

"We need Danny."

"Yes, we…" Sam paused at the base of the stairs outside of the school, glancing up to where she wished Danny was still able to fly. "We need him."

They continued to walk in silence, only the quiet sounds of everyday life to assure them that they hadn't gone deaf. The streets were still swarming with students who were slightly later than their peers in escaping the confines of school.

"Wait, Sam," Tucker stopped walking, an expression of realization dawning on his face. "What if he's still out there?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if," he started to gesture wildly with his hands, eyes shining with excitement. "I mean, technically, Danny was _already _dead."

Sam sighed. "Where are you going with this?"

Tucker went completely still, looking seriously into Sam's eyes. "We should look for him. We should find the Booomerang again, or some other type of device, and follow it until it leads us back to Danny."

"We _saw_ what happened to Danny- it was all over the news," she was unimpressed, but her friend pressed on, oblivious to her warning glares.

"Yes," Tucker conceded. "But you know what he was. Who's to say that he's not still out there somewhere? Besides, what's the harm in trying?"

"There is _loads _of harm in trying!" Sam exploded furiously, throwing her hands up into the air. "What if we… we throw the Booomerang and it just _falls_ to the ground?"

"Then we'll know for sure," Tucker said quietly.

"I don't…" she whispered, small tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "I don't _want _to know for sure. It's… that's too _final_."

Tucker nodded, and they began to walk again. Sam was taking deep breaths, trying to calm her pounding heart, but it wasn't doing anything to help. With a small grunt, she pushed away from her friend, taking off down the street. She could hear Tucker's concerned shouts follow her, but didn't look back.

**DPDPDPDP**

"Mum?"

Maddie halted on her way out of the door, cursing silently. She turned towards the lounge, a large, fake smile plastered on her face. Jazz was watching her curiously.

"What's the rush?"

The ghost hunter continued to smile, hiding her discomfort poorly. Her daughter had… changed- and at first, Maddie had encouraged the behavior, but now…

It was terrifying. Jazz's eyes burned with the fire that Maddie's had lost, but much brighter then her mother's had ever been. While Maddie's desire to hunt ghosts had lessened, Jazz's had grown; it had changed her from the sweet, over-protective girl she had once been, giving her a new drive, a new goal to achieve. Maddie just wished that she wasn't so sadistic in going about it. That aggression was what had forced the two of them apart.

Jazz frowned, closing the thick book she had been reading with a quiet thump. "Mum? Are you going to answer me?"

"Oh, yes," Maddie nodded distractedly, wanting nothing more than to leave. "Yes, I'm fine."

"That's not what I asked."

"It's not?" She stepped closer to the door, closer to escape.

"No," Jazz said, sounding slightly frustrated. "I asked you what the hurry was."

Maddie felt herself shudder- she couldn't help it. When had she become so scared of her own daughter?

Since she had killed her son.

"Mum?"

"The hospital called," Maddie blurted. Her hand tightened around the doorknob, muscles tense and eyes darting wildly around the room. "They asked me to come in. I'm sorry, dea… I'm sorry, Jazz, but it sounds important."

Blood rushed to colour the ghost hunter's cheeks as yet another painful truth hit home. By looking at Jazz, Maddie could see that they had both noticed her little mistake, and it hurt them both equally. Slowly, but steadily, they were getting worse. Soon, Maddie knew, they wouldn't be able to talk at all.

**DPDPDPDP**

"Family time?" Sam asked incredulously. "What makes you think that I _want _family time?"

"Oh, Sammykins," Pamela laughed, as if the thunderous expression on her daughter's face didn't faze her. "We're your parents!"

Sam tried to close her bedroom door, storming over to the bed when it proved impossible. She lay on her back and glared at the ceiling. "So?"

"Your father and I feel that you have been following the wrong path for a well-bred young lady such as yourself."

Sam snorted. "Really? Then where is he now?"

Pamela hesitated. "He's busy."

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of 'family time'?"

"Fine," the woman gritted her teeth, trying in vain to keep the frustration out of her voice. "Then we can talk."

"Nothing to talk about."

Pamela stalked through the threshold of the room, glowering angrily at the disdainful girl lying on the dark red quilt. She hated the colour- much preferring pink or maybe a sunny yellow. The whole space was much too dark, and Pamela knew that couldn't be helping her daughter in any way.

"We _will_ talk!" she demanded, receiving unwanted pleasure from the shocked look Sam shot her. "I'm going to help you get _through _this… this phase. He was just a _boy_, Sam- no matter what you think- and he got what he deserved."

"Who deserves to die?" the Goth asked quietly, with not even a hint of anger left in her words. Just a sad curiosity. "Who can say that he deserved to die?"

Pamela, possessed by the rage that filled her at the thought of her daughter's old friend, hit the bed with her small fist. "_I _say that he deserved to die, the whole _town_ says that he deserved to die!"

"But what for? It was an accident," Sam rolled over until she was facing the bedspread, staring at it sorrowfully.

"Just an accident," she whispered softly, and Pamela wasn't sure about what her daughter was speaking of anymore.

**DPDPDPDP**

Dash groaned and small tears formed in the corners of his eyes. His heartbeat was getting slower at a much faster rate than before, causing the jock to wonder why no nurse or doctor had checked up on him yet. He had to be getting down to dangerous levels now- if he wasn't already there. When he had first been admitted into the hospital, Dash was the center of attention, but now something else was taking up the staff's time. They hurried past, but none paused to check on him- not now there might actually be something wrong.

_Thirty-two, thirty-three…_

It had worked before, so Dash sucked in a deep breath and held it. One minute passed, then another. Pretty soon, he was beginning to panic- but not because of his self-induced suffocation.

It had been almost eight minutes, and Dash didn't feel the urge to breathe.

Finally, he exhaled shakily and let out a great sob.

The most popular guy in school, reduced to a trembling mess in a hospital bed. Alone.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**Yes, it has taken a while, hasn't it? But the extra-long chapter's finally up! :D I hope you guys are as happy about that as I am :) Please tell me what you think.**

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**pale-blue11**


	17. Chapter 17

_"Sam Manson," an unknown person chuckled darkly. "Fancy seeing you here."_

_The girl shivered and turned around, unconsciously wrapping her arms around herself. There was nothing behind her, save for the glassy, mirror-like reflection of a large lake. It looked familiar._

_"Remember this?" the voice came from less than a foot away from Sam's ear. The being's cold breath caused her to shudder and close her eyes against her frightened tears. "Lake Eerie? We had a lot of fun here. Just me and you… and Tucker._

_"Don't you remember?"_

_Sam shook her head, but words escaped her. This wasn't Danny. Danny was dead and gone- and _nothing _like this creature. He was comforting, kind, willing to do anything for anyone. The boy that Sam loved would never be capable of inducing this kind of terror._

_A flash of light, brighter than the moon, shone through her closed eyelids._

_"Sam?" The twisted ghost hissed quietly, just inches from her face. His voice was deep and menacing. "Samantha? Why don't you let anyone call you that, Samantha? It's such a _pretty_ name."_

_Sam's breathing hitched and her words trembled as she was finally able to speak. "Get away."_

_"Aw, Samantha," it sniggered. "Is that _really _what you want?"_

_"Yes," tears trickled down her frozen cheeks, and she hated how weak she sounded. She was better than this._

_The ghost laughed sinisterly, without humour. "I don't think it is," its tone softened, becoming persuasive and welcoming. "Open your eyes, Sam. Open your eyes and see things as they _truly _are."_

_"No…"_

_"Please? It would make me so happy."_

_"No," Sam tried to sound firm, but her voice was filled with uncertainty. "This isn't real. You're not really here."_

_It laughed quietly, sounding genuinely amused. "You're right, Samantha. I'm not really here…"_

_The air began to heat up, Sam's fear lessening with each second as the nightmare released her. The ghost said just one more word just before she woke, but the single syllable seemed to echo eternally._

_"Yet."_

**DPDPDPDP**

Fear almost made him turn back. It pulled at him, whispering warnings into his ear, but still Tucker ignored it.

The doorknob turned easily, which shouldn't have surprised him. Maddie Fenton was so absentminded now; she was half the woman she once had been. It wasn't unlike her to leave her house open.

Taking a deep breath, Tucker pushed against the door. It allowed him entrance with barely a noise. Tentatively stepping over the threshold, he fancied that he could feel the hostility radiating towards him. He wasn't welcome in Fenton Works anymore.

But he had a job to do.

It was killing him! The uncertainty, the doubt- was it possible to kill something that was already half-dead? Even if Sam wasn't keen on his idea, Tucker knew that he had to go through with it.

Nothing moved. Not even the shadows cast by the evening sun formed arms to reach out and grab him. It was ridiculous, but that was what a small part of him expected to happen. The dark shapes would send black tendrils to wrap around Tucker, preventing his escape.

_Intruder…_ They would whisper. They knew. The whole house knew that he didn't belong. The walls would warp, twisting and bending like soft toffee. It would form a face, one that Tucker recognized easily.

_Get out_, the house would demand, using Tucker's own voice to make the request. The boy would stare at the demonic version of himself, mesmerized, as the house laughed at him.

_Stupid boy…_ and he would run.

Tucker's eyes stung as he came back to the present. Hurriedly, he blinked away the pain and continued on into Fenton Works. He was being ridiculous, letting his imagination trick him into seeing things that weren't there… Even so, Tucker couldn't help but cast a wary glance around the room before he fully entered.

**DPDPDPDP**

Dash felt better than he had in days, disregarding that fact that his BPM was at a permanent high of 30. He was full of energy and couldn't seem to keep still. The hospital sheets were messed up and bunched at the base of the bed- and had been for some time. Absolutely no nurses had checked up on him since the evening before last. Then, he had commented that Dash's leg was healing extraordinarily fast, and that the young jock should be thankful. After all, he'd been beaten up by _Danny Phantom._ Everybody now knew of the ghost's temper- Dash was lucky to be alive.

He didn't feel so lucky. The hospital room gave him the creeps. Everything was white and clean, there were always noises, and he was stuck in a building full of sick and dying people. And… something else… something that Dash just couldn't put his finger on, no matter how hard he tried. He was restless, and his breathing was panicked. His eyes darted nervously around the room.

Dash was waiting for something, but he didn't know what.

Something fell in the corridor behind his door, causing the jock to jump. His leg cramped in protest of the sudden movement. An angry voice was coming from outside in harsh, whispered tones. Dash could hear every word.

"-Can _not _be serious!" a woman yelled quietly. A pang of homesickness made Dash's spirits sink. She reminded him of his mother.

"Mrs Fenton," a doctor attempted to calm her, though it didn't seem to be working. "If there was anything we could do-"

"Just _find _something! Do you know what has happened to our family recently?" Maddie's voice was steadily rising, her words trembling with emotion. "Do you have _any _idea of what it feels like?"

The doctor murmured his response.

"No," Dash could just imagine the flinch that her tone induced in the poor man. "I didn't think so."

"Mrs Fenton, it is impracti-"

There was a loud thump on the other side of Dash's door, making him wince sympathetically.

"I know how these things work," Maddie hissed venomously. "You can't take my husband off of life-support without my permission. Well, I don't give it."

Her furious footsteps echoed down the empty hallway on her way out. Dash shivered, a feeling of unjustifiable relief sweeping over him. Sighing, he let his body relax and focused on the pristine ceiling. It was just as it had been the day before, with one thin crack marring its smooth surface in the corner. It wasn't like the bathroom, where a tile seemed to fall off and disappear every day. Gradually, his mind began to wander, until a cough startled him.

Slowly, he looked up. A pale purple ghost was sitting in the chair at the end of the hospital bed, watching Dash thoughtfully. Its clothing was a bright orange, dimmed slightly by the violet aura that surrounded it. When it saw the frightened boy had noticed it, the ghost smiled and drifted up to its feet.

"So," it began. "You found another way to cheat death."

Dash blinked blankly. He had no idea what the ghost was talking about, but worry filled him regardless. He felt guilty about something, something he couldn't think of.

The ghost floated closer, until its large face was just centimeters from Dash's. "Not saying anything? What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing," Dash heard the words coming out of his mouth, but it wasn't his voice. He had no control over his body.

The purple specter hissed in annoyance. "You should be. You have no right to still be here."

Remorse coursed through Dash, and to his embarrassment, he felt tears flooding his eyes. "I'm sorry, Dad. I told you that before."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Danny," the ghost yelled, getting closer to the bed. "You killed me!"

"No, Dad- I didn't!" Dash cried.

It pulled back, its expression disappointed. "The why am I now like you?"

"Like me?"

"Dead," the ghost stepped back and collapsed into the nearby chair. There, it stared emotionlessly at Dash's wrinkled blankets. "Inhuman, an absolute _disgrace_," it looked up, meeting the boy's eyes. "We shouldn't even exist."

Dash couldn't breathe- it was as if his chest had stopped working. Finally, the alien voice finally wheezed out a reply. "You're not dead, Dad."

The ghost looked at the boy with a lost expression. "Then what am I? What _exactly_ is happening to me?"

"I-I don't know."

**DPDPDPDP**

_This is it,_ Tucker thought with a nervous sigh. He fingered the object in his hands, turning it over and over. Soon, he knew he would have to throw the Booomerang… but he couldn't. Sam's words echoed in his mind.

_There is _loads _of harm in trying!_

_What if we… we throw the Booomerang and it just _falls _to the ground?_

_That's too final._

Tucker shook his head. Sam wasn't here- she couldn't stop him. He looked around his bedroom, suppressing the memories that attempted to bombard him. His grip on the Booomerang tightened and he closed his eyes in determination. He _could _do this. He could.

Tucker raised the tracking device above his head. It was keyed into Danny's ecto-signature, and if there was any hope of finding him- this was it. As he pulled back his arm, Tucker refused to open his eyes. He didn't want to see it.

The Booomerang left his hand… Tucker listened intently for the sound of it hitting the floor, but nothing came. Hope rose within him and he cracked open his eyes. Just as he did so, it landed on the bed with a soft thud.

He stared at it disbelievingly. Danny was dead. Truly.

Tucker finally understood Sam's reasoning- sometimes ignorance is bliss, and this was one of those times. The techno-geek fell onto the bed beside the Booomerang, unable to tear his gaze away from it. The crescent shape blurred as tears filled his eyes. Angrily, he raised his glasses and wiped them away, drying his damp hand on the bedspread.

Something hard and smooth brushed against his toe. Suddenly curious, Tucker bent down to retrieve whatever was under his bed. As he lifted the photo closer to his face, he almost smiled. Danny's expression was shocked and comical. He was reaching towards whoever had the camera, hand wrapped in bandages. It was a familiar sight, one that Tucker missed dearly.

On a whim, Tucker once again lifted the Booomerang, ready to throw it. This time, he kept his eyes open.

**AN:**

Hey! pale-blue11 here!

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter :/ Really, I wanted to upload it last Tuesday- to commemorate my Poppa's anniversary ):- but life got in the way, sooo... Anyway- here it is!**

**To those people who I REALLY need to PM, I'm sorry, and I'll do it as soon as I can! No, really, I will! I promise!**

**Please review, favourite and/or follow this chapter! I promise to reply to reviews :) Oh- please tell me if I've improved! I really need to know.**

**And thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and/or followed the last chapter.**

**I'm also gonna change the description of this story before the next update, so look out for that :) and I made a new video! It's on Youtube as 'Danny Phantom- I Am.' :)**

**D: It's really cold, so I'm going to bed. Warm in there :)**

**Have a nice day!**

**pale-blue11**


	18. Chapter 18

Casper High looked exactly the same as when he had last seen it. Students were casually walking to class, or embracing friends they hadn't seen since the day before. Despite the similarities, Dash felt a whole lot different as he walked through the gates. Whatever had happened in the hospital never made a reappearance, but it had spooked the tough jock, making him feel worried and unsure.

Without realizing it, Dash had stopped walking. He was staring up the doors into the school, dreading the upcoming day. It was so uncharacteristic for him to act this way, he knew, but something had… changed.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, making Dash turn with his fist raised menacingly. Kwan stepped back quickly, almost tripping over his feet.

"Don't _do _that, you idiot," Dash said angrily, trying to force himself to calm down.

Kwan seemed to regain some of his composure and glared back at him. "What's wrong with you? I only tapped your shoulder!"

"Yeah? Well don't."

"Whatever," Kwan huffed, crossing his arms. "Are you able to play in the game this week?"

Dash shook his head and began walking up the stairs, looking at the ground as he spoke. "Nah, sorry. Not for a while, they said."

"I'm actually surprised they let you come back to school," Kwan admitted, following his friend. "Especially so soon. It looked like _Fenton_ beat you up pretty bad."

Here he started laughing, not seeming to notice the thunderous expression on Dash's face.

"You know who he really was," Dash muttered, unable to look at the other jock. Instead, he glared at the ceiling ahead of them.

"No, really, dude," Kwan snickered. "He just left you there- what a hero, huh?"

The corridor turned a sickly green colour, but all Dash could see was red. Twin bursts of energy shot from his eyes, scorching the ceiling. Everyone let out a yell, including him, and fell to the floor.

"What the hell _was _that?" Kwan shouted, his voice barely heard over the screams of confusion that came from every direction.

"I-I don't know," Dash stammered, staring fearfully at the long, dark burn in front of them.

**DPDPDPDP**

Sam was even more withdrawn, and was getting worse each day that passed. Many people noticed, but the one who noticed the most was definitely Tucker.

She never spoke a word in class, even if Mr Lancer decided to target her. Other classmates didn't care- Sam and Tucker were the school pariahs since Danny's death. Usually, Tucker wouldn't have thought that she would be so bothered about this, but it wasn't all about her.

Danny was a hero. All the good acts he did were just forgotten because of one mistake, but only Tucker and Sam could see that. That was what hurt them both the most.

"Sam?" Tucker whispered, leaning across his table to speak to her. Mr Lancer glanced at them, but pretended not to notice.

With hollow and empty eyes, the Goth turned to face her friend. She looked tired; the dark makeup surrounding her eyes just made it look worse.

"Sam? I have to tell you something. It's important."

Sam turned away and laid her head down on the desk. "I doubt it," she muttered.

"Please, just listen to me!" he said, shaking her shoulder.

Sam's voice was muffled, smothered by the arm that covered her face. "No. I don't want another one of your ideas, Tucker. Stop dreaming and wake up."

Tucker sighed exasperatedly and leant back in his chair. He closed his eyes and thought about what he could tell her. Should he tell he that he went to Fenton Works? Should he tell her that he stole the Booomerang? Should he tell her what the Booomerang showed him?

"I'm not dreaming," he finally replied. "I-"

"Mr Foley, Miss Manson," Lancer finally decided to interrupt. "Is there a problem?"

Tucker shook his head mutely.

"Good. Don't start one," he turned back to the board.

As soon as the lesson continued, Tucker leant over to Sam again.

"Danny's alive. I have proof."

He ignored her snort of derision, just as she was trying to ignore him.

**DPDPDPDP**

_It was so dark._

_The darkness seemed to smother him, compressing him from all directions. A strange ringing sounded in his ears, hurting them with their dull tone. His chest ached, but Danny found that he didn't really need to breath, anyway._

Is this it?_ He wondered. _Did they finally kill me?

_Danny could remember dying. He could remember the heat that spread over his chest like a raging bushfire in the summer. It had made his throat dry and sore, but his last words had to be spoken. He needed them to realize, to know, that it was an accident. He didn't plan to put his father in hospital- would never have even __**dreamed **__of doing so- but… he did._

_Not knowing was the worst part. Danny had no way of asking all of the questions that he needed answered._

_That's why he came back._

_After what seemed like a lifetime trapped in that eternal darkness, Danny broke free._

**DPDPDPDP**

Sam glanced around Tucker's room as she walked in. It looked the same as it always had- at least on the surface. Lurking beneath the visage of familiar posters and general clutter, lay the memories that had recently been tainted. They tried to invade Sam as she entered, but her strong mind resisted.

Tucker squeezed through the gap behind her and walked over to his bed.

"See?" he asked, lifting up the mattress. "_This_ is what I wanted to show you."

Curious, Sam slunk closer to him. The Booomerang gleamed in the afternoon light that filtered through the window, causing her to freeze. All breath left her lungs as she struggled to make her face impassive.

"Where…" she whispered, then coughed. She continued in a louder voice, unable to take her eyes off of the tracking device. "Where did you get this… thing?"

Tucker dropped the mattress down again and looked at her gravely. "Where do you think?"

"You really went _there_? Do you have a death wish?" Sam gasped, a hand flying up to cover her mouth. "But, but… What about Mrs Fenton?"

"Actually, it's Jazz you need to worry about now," he sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, staring intensely at his hands. "She's… changed. And not in a good way."

"Yeah?" Asked Sam angrily. "Well it's her fault! If she hadn't arranged th-that…"

She broke off, lips trembling. Both she and Tucker knew that Danny's death wasn't really Jazz's doing. Essentially, everyone was to blame- the whole of Amity Park.

"He was so damn protective," Sam whispered, collapsing onto the bed beside her friend.

She closed her eyes and went completely still, trying to expel the stubborn memories that just wouldn't leave. An arm slipped around her shoulders, and unconsciously she leaned in. He might not have been Danny, but in that moment, Sam just needed a friend.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**I'm going back to shorter chapters, sorry :/ There'll be less, but I'll be able to update faster :) Yes, I realise how terrible this chapter was. And I know that I didn't do anything with the Booomerang, but that'll all come next chapter :) also, more stuff with Dash to come! Ooo! I'm starting to get excited about writing this story again :P**

**Thank you for all the amazing reviews! And I keep forgetting to reply to the guests! D:**

**Guest 1: I'm updating :) Thanks for reviewing so quickly!**

**Pyromaniac: cool name! And thank you so much, that's really kind :)**

**Guest 2: Thank you for reviewing :) I'll think about your suggestion :)**

**Please review, favourite and/or follow! I'd like a certain amount of reviews before I post the next chapter :)**

**Happy Bastille Day!**

**pale-blue11**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Dash couldn't stop the frown that was appearing on his face. He had never realized just how irritating his 'friends' were. They didn't really care about him, and maybe it was his time in the hospital that really drove the fact in. Kwan thankfully hadn't spoken about the incident that morning- something that Dash was extremely grateful of.

The smells wafting out of the kitchen in the Nasty Burger were making him feel queasy. Burning bread, old oil, and off meat mixed together into a lethal concoction that played havoc with his senses. Trying to keep his mind distracted, Dash leant forward onto the greasy table and covered his face in his hands. It was dark, sure, but the voices that surrounded him seemed to echo even louder.

"Dash?" he heard Paulina ask, her pretty accent grating against his nerves. "What is wrong? You haven't said anything since we got here."

Dash opened his eyes, then glared at his hands, balling them into fists. "I'm _fine_."

"That's lucky, I need you to-"

"Actually," he interrupted, standing up abruptly. "I'm not feeling so good after all. See you tomorrow."

She might have protested, but Dash was already shouldering his way through the crowd. Smaller students scattered before him, clearing a path for the hostile jock. By the time he got outside, Dash was running.

The fresh air was clean and pure. It tasted sweet. He noticed this as he tore down the streets, arms pumping, moving faster than he had thought possible. He knew he should feel more worried, but these new… _powers_ felt natural to him. As if he had had them for years. They were reassuring.

A large grin spread over his face as he raised his arms out beside him. His feet were pounding the pavement with a lightness that he had never felt before, pushing him forward towards the unknown goal. Where was he going? Dash didn't know. He didn't care.

**DPDPDPDP**

_Danny was confused. He had escaped, but wasn't sure of what that meant. He couldn't be alive- his mother's gun had made sure of that- but he also couldn't be dead. That new ecto-weapon had destroyed both halves of him._

_So what was he?_

_It was just like before, when he had first received his powers. Nothing made sense, and all Danny wanted was an explanation, some answers._

_His form was wispy, like smoke, and no one seemed to notice him. Danny drifted along lazily, with only one thought in mind-_

_Find a body._

_If Danny could find someone to possess, he would be able to save his father. Even if Amity Park didn't know that it was him, it was important that he do something. And to do that, he needed to have some form of control._

_It would have to be someone who wouldn't understand what was happening until it was too late. It couldn't be Sam or Tucker, or anyone that had been in any type of relationship with Danny before… before this. They had been to close to him, and someone might notice if one of them suddenly changed. His options were running out._

_With nowhere else to go, Danny found himself in the hospital._

_Familiar white walls and beeping machines greeted him. He hadn't noticed it before, but now, as a full ghost, the stench of death hung heavily in the air. Sick and dying people surrounded him, making Danny's form grow in power. It was a revitalising feeling. The rush that the hospital brought almost made Danny feel alive again. His aura pulsed in and out like a heartbeat, getting brighter and dimmer with every movement._

_"Nurse!" He heard someone call hoarsely. Danny might have frowned, if he still had a face. Instead, he followed the voice until he reached the patient's room._

_His light increased dramatically as he gazed upon the patient._

_Finally, he had found a body._

**DPDPDPDP**

Dash was finally beginning to get tired. It didn't feel like he had been running for long, but the sun was beginning to disappear behind the horizon and the streets were getting dark. The steady rhythm of his feet beating on the pavement slowed, then stopped. Dash bent over and braced his hands on his knees, trying to calm his loud breaths. A large grin was plastered over his face, a new light shining in his eyes.

_Is this how Fenton felt?_ He wondered.

After a few more seconds, Dash straightened up. His lazy heartbeat was getting even slower, but it wasn't as worrying as it had been before. Dash had figured it out. When Phantom had confronted him, some of his powers must have leaked. Dash had received some of the ghost boy's talents, and he was going to make full use of them.

Dash looked around at his surroundings, hoping to see a familiar landmark to guide him home. But the street was normal, unremarkable. Frowning, the jock walked around a corner. It was hard to miss.

Light from the setting sun was reflecting off of the orange brick building, causing it to glow brightly. Dash froze, eyes wide. It was _the _house. Vacantly, he walked forward, towards the structure at the end of the street. It looked the same, but the homely feeling that he had grown up with had disappeared. Dash hesitantly climbed up the front steps, then ran a hand down the door. Gently, he caressed the worn handle, building up the courage to turn it.

_No._

With a gasp, Dash stumbled backwards, falling. He lay sprawled on the ground, panting hard, his hands shaking.

"No," he whispered, clambering back to his feet. His whole body trembled. "Stop it. I never lived here! Calm down, Danny."

Dash spun around, letting out an angry groan. He cradled his aching head.

"I'm _Dash_," he yelled, voice muffled beneath his large hands. "I'm _Dash, _I'm _Dash!_"

His fingers raked through his short blond hair, the knuckles turning white. The jock let out a garbled scream, blindly tripping down the street. He pulled on the yellow strands and ripped…

Dash sobered up almost instantly. He let the hair fall from his fingers, vacantly watching them float down to the pavement.

Since when had his hair been _black?_

**AN:**

Hey! pale-blue11 here!

**Decided to update this one :) design/tech was particularly boring, so I wrote another chapter instead! I hope you guys like it :)**

**Pyromaniac: here it is! Thanks for your review :)**

**So... I'm pretty sure you can tell what's happening now :P**

**Please review, favourite and/or follow! It'll encourage me to write more of this fic. Oh, and I now update _one _of my stories every Tuesday, for those who don't know :)**

**And THANK YOU! to _everyone _who helped me reach- and pass- 100 reviews! I really appreciate you taking the time to comment :)**

**Have a nice day!**

**pale-blue11**


	20. Chapter 20

"What does this _mean?_" Sam asked, throwing her hands up as she paced the room. Tucker, sitting on the bed, just watched. He had already seen what had happened.

Sam stopped walking and sat down heavily onto the floor, picking up the Booomerang and turning it over in her hands. "I don't get it."

"It flew, Sam, what don't you get?" Tucker sighed.

"Well, yeah," she admitted, not taking her eyes off of the invention. "But then it fell. Either it got a signal, or it didn't. There _can't _be an in-between, Tucker."

"No in-between, Sam?" Tucker said incredulously. He rolled off of the bed and sat by his friend. "Didn't Danny sort of… uh, disprove that theory? He was half _dead-_ something that most people thought impossible."

"Stop it, Tuck. I remember what he was."

He took the Booomerang from her and placed it on the ground. "My point is, it flew. There's still hope."

"Tucker," Sam began, standing up. "While you know that I would like that more than anything, I just…. I just can't let myself believe that he's… Look, I think I should go."

She left, walking out the door. Her footsteps made barely any noise.

Tucker stared at the open doorway for a few seconds, not really seeing anything. His mind was full of chaotic thoughts and images, all tumbling through his head, leaving confusion in their wake. He could understand what Sam was saying. She didn't want to get her hopes up, and realistically, Tucker knew that he also shouldn't. But it was hard not to. The Booomerang was keyed into Danny's ecto-signature, and it was getting a reading. It had to be coming from somewhere.

**DPDPDPDP**

Sam could barely see the street through her tears. What was Tucker thinking? He knew better than to say stuff like that, to _show_ her stuff like that. Danny could still be out there… maybe. Sam tried to imagine what he might say in this situation.

'_Don't worry, Sam,"_ he would whisper, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to his chest. "_You know that I could never leave you."ˆ_

"Oh, Danny," Sam would murmur back, leaning in. "You already have left. I'm so lonely."

Tears were running down her face, but she couldn't feel them. The dream was too perfect to ruin with something as trivial as reality.

"_I'm right here," _he might chuckle. "_Where you can always find me."_

"But I don't know how," Sam whispered. "I don't know where to start looking."

She would hear him scoff, then her chin was being gently lifted. She would stare into those magnificent blue eyes that she missed so much, but they were so sad.

"_I love you, Sam,"_ he would tell her earnestly, tenderly stroking her face. "_I know that you will eventually find me. It's just a matter of time."_

"No, Danny," Sam's eyes widened as his image began to blur and dissolve. "Please- please don't go! I- I love you, too!"

Sam fell to her knees as his comforting presence disappeared completely. Her shaking arms wound tight around her body, the nails digging into her shoulders and leaving vibrant red scratches behind.

"Danny…" she sobbed, tears soaking the pavement. "Please… not again…"

She knew it was no use. He was gone, and there was only one way to get him back again. The Booomerang was wrong- it must have been locked onto some other ghost.

Trembling, Sam got to her feet. She looked at the damp spots on her clothes and the ground with something resembling surprise. She _never_ cried, but that was all she seemed to do lately. With that realization, her will strengthened.

If Danny couldn't come back to her, _she _would just have to go to him.

**DPDPDPDP**

_Danny didn't think he'd be able to do it. His new form was unstable, and drastically weaker than his previous body. But, in some ways, it was easier. He was small enough, unobtrusive enough, to slip in unnoticed._

_After that, time seemed to pass quickly, without meaning. The minutes were recorded only by the steady beats of the heart rate monitor, so Danny waited. Already, he could see his presence changing his host's body structure. The small adjustments- like the weight and height- were decreasing, slowly so as to be almost imperceptible. But others- such as the rate of his heartbeat- were impossible to hide, especially not in a hospital. Danny didn't know that would happen, but he also didn't want to leave. Maybe those alterations were just side affects from being in the hospital, nothing to do with him._

_Until finally, there was no denying that he was growing stronger. While his father's visit had shaken him, he had unknowingly provided Danny with a purpose, with a solution to his troubles. Jack didn't know that he was still alive, and maybe… maybe having his spirit- the ghost- separate from his body was what caused the coma to last so long. If Danny could just merge the two sides together again, his family would be more complete. He still wouldn't be with them, but he doubted that they wanted him back, anyway._

_Danny had been able to take over Dash's body completely for the first time. He would be able to do it again, and again. But as soon as his father was safe, Danny promised, he would leave. It was just simple overshadowing, what could be the harm?_

**DPDPDPDP**

"Now _this _is my house," Dash told himself, staring at the large white door in front of him. He could remember living here- it was home. But another set of memories cluttered up his mind. Fenton's memories.

The changes were happening more rapidly now, so fast that even Dash couldn't fail to notice. It wasn't as simple as just _some _of Phantom's powers being transferred to him- Phantom was _inside _Dash. And with every moment, the jock could feel more and more of himself slip away. This wasn't like the last time he was over-shadowed. Back then, Dash couldn't even recall anything from the last few days. It was as if he had fallen asleep, and woken up a while later. Now, he was fully conscious. Maybe Phantom hadn't reached full strength yet. Once he did… Dash doubted that he'd even survive.

**AN:**

**Hey! pale-blue11 here!**

**I actually wrote this a few days ago! I didn't leave it until now to finish for once! And that probably won't happen again for a while.**

**I'm not going to be updating this one next week, sorry. I've started rewriting my first story because of how terrible it was, and it's easier to update my other stuff while I'm doing that. Sorry :(**

**Replying to guests:**

**El Zorro- thanks :) I'm glad it's making sense now!**

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**I appreciate all reviews so... :P**

**Thank you everyone for reading this far!**

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**pale-blue11**


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